China refines roughly a third of the world's cadmium, a byproduct of zinc. What cadmium is, where it still matters, and why regulation shapes it.
Last updated: October 2026
Cadmium is a soft, bluish-white metal recovered as a byproduct of refining zinc. China refines roughly a third of world output. Once everywhere in batteries and pigments, cadmium is now a story of regulation and one solar technology that still needs it.
| # | Country | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | ~30% |
| 2 | South Korea | ~12% |
| 3 | Japan | ~8% |
| 4 | Kazakhstan | ~7% |
| 5 | Canada | ~5% |
Refinery production shares, 2024 (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025). Cadmium is a byproduct of zinc refining.
Cadmium is a soft, bluish-white metal in the zinc group, toxic in quantity. It occurs with zinc ores and is recovered from the dusts and fumes of zinc smelting. Its toxicity has driven it out of most consumer products.
Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar panels — the technology behind First Solar, the largest US solar manufacturer — plus nickel-cadmium batteries (declining), pigments, corrosion-resistant coatings, and stabilizers.
China, with roughly 30% of world refined cadmium production (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025), followed by South Korea and Japan.
China accounts for roughly 30% of refined cadmium, again as a byproduct of its dominant zinc-refining industry. China is also the largest market for CdTe solar manufacturing inputs.
Moderate. Supply follows zinc refining, so it cannot be scaled on demand. The binding constraint is CdTe solar: if that technology grows fast, cadmium demand follows. Toxicity rules limit new uses and push recycling from spent batteries.
Cadmium is a toxic byproduct of zinc refining. China refines roughly a third of world output. Regulation pushed it out of most consumer goods, leaving cadmium telluride solar panels — the technology behind First Solar — as the demand that now decides whether cadmium matters.
Cadmium is a soft, bluish-white metal in the zinc group, toxic in quantity. It occurs with zinc ores and is recovered from the dusts and fumes of zinc smelting. Its toxicity has driven it out of most consumer products.
Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar panels — the technology behind First Solar, the largest US solar manufacturer — plus nickel-cadmium batteries (declining), pigments, corrosion-resistant coatings, and stabilizers.
China, with roughly 30% of world refined cadmium production (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025), followed by South Korea and Japan.
