How to use Country mineral profile

The tool brings together, in one table, a country's rank in world exports of each of the 25 minerals: where it leads, where it is a relevant supplier and where it has gained or lost ground since 2012. Use it to assess a country as a supplier or a competitor, to prepare a trade mission or to position your own country.

Questions it answers:

• In which minerals is Portugal among the world's ten largest exporters?
• Where has a supplier country climbed in the last decade?
• Who leads each mineral my country exports?

1. 1CountryAny country listed among the largest exporters of at least one mineral.
2. 2YearBy default, the latest complete year. The most recent year is marked provisional: some countries have not reported it yet.
3. 3The result updates by itselfWhen you change a selector, the result changes at once — there is no button. The page address keeps your choices: you can bookmark it or share it with your team.
4. 4Export as PDFThe «Export PDF» button below the selectors downloads the result on screen as a KEYSTONE. report: the choices you made, the tables and the reading notes. Every page carries your name and licence ID. Included in the Data and Professional plans.

1. 1RankThe country's place among the listed exporters of that mineral (e.g. «#4 of 50»).
2. 2ShareThe part of the mineral's world exports coming from that country.
3. 3Since 2012How many places it has climbed (▲) or dropped (▼) since 2012. «not listed in 2012» means the country was not yet among the listed exporters that year.
4. 4World leaderThe mineral's largest exporter and its share, to show the gap. «it is the leader» when it is the country itself.

The small line shows the country's share year by year since 2012. Above the table, a summary says in how many minerals the country appears and in how many it is in the top ten.

An investor wants to understand Country K's weight in minerals.

• In Mineral F, Country K is #1 of 42, with 38.5% of world exports, and has climbed 2 places since 2012: it has become the leader.
• In Mineral G it is #4 of 50, with 8.6%, and has dropped 1 place. The leader is Country R, with 31.0%.
• In Mineral H it is #12 of 48, with 1.9%, and was not listed in 2012: a recent exporter, still small, but growing.

The profile shows where a country counts and where it is heading. To see whether that position matters for world supply, use Mineral export concentration; for values and tonnes, the world minerals dashboard.

• Exports, not production. A large producer that processes its ore before exporting may rank poorly here.
• Listed largest exporters. Ranks are computed among the largest exporters of each customs code and year (50 per code): a country missing in a year was not among them.
• Very small shares. «< 0.1%» means the country exports, but weighs less than a tenth of a percentage point.
• Provisional year. The most recent year is not complete yet: ranks may change when the other countries report.

Why is my country missing from a mineral it exports?

Because that year it was not among the listed largest exporters of that customs code, or because the mineral has no code of its own (like lithium).

Which countries can I choose?

Every country listed among the largest exporters of at least one of the 25 minerals, in any year since 2012.

Who can see the figures?

Subscribers to the Data and Professional plans. Without a plan, the tool shows the minerals in which the country appears, but not its rank, share or trend.

When is the data updated?

Automatically, whenever the world minerals dashboard is updated with new UN Comtrade data.