The US fluorspar market showed strength in December 2025 with increased pricing driven by tightening import availability, increased freight charges, and steady downstream demand. The US fluorspar market is highly import-dependent, with approximately 60-64% of its fluorspar coming from Mexico, and the remainder is smaller volumes supplied by South Africa. The dominant supply from Mexico contributed to low spot supply heading into year-end due to limited incremental shipments and conservative selling practices of export companies. Supplying countries in South Africa maintained moderate levels of imports but had a higher landed cost because they had longer transit times and increasing freight expenses. Average US fluorspar import prices began to climb in December as buyers made inventory increases for 2026. Additionally, higher ocean freight prices, especially for long-haul volumes, put upward pressure on product prices. Demand remains strong and steady from hydrofluoric acid producers, fluorochemical producers, metallurgists, and emerging battery technology.
The US fluorspar market has been trending positively with price increases due largely to decreasing supply from imports, combined with stronger-than-average demand signals from downstream consumers in December 2025 came to an end. Prices for acid-grade fluorspar—the primary ingredient required to make hydrofluoric acid and fluorochemicals—are now above average for 2025 based on continued support from many of the key industries that use fluorspar and tightness in supply from Mexico and South Africa, which are the two largest suppliers of fluorspar to the US.
The US is heavily reliant on imported fluorspar. To put that reliance into perspective, Mexico contributes approximately 60-64% of the total supply of fluorspar needed to support the US fluorspar market, and South Africa contributes approximately 6-9%, based upon the latest statistics available from the US Census Bureau. Mexico provides most of the fluorspar requirements of the US; there has been a limited increase in exports, resulting in tightness of spot deliveries in North America, while South African imports remain expensive compared to Mexican imports. In addition to the high costs associated with South African fluorspar, there has been an increasing focus on diversifying supply sources.
The trend observed in late 2025, where fluorspar prices were accelerating substantially, was not in accordance with prior trends established throughout the earlier part of 2025. Demand for additional restocking by end users and potential growth in demand during 2026 were cited as reasons for the accelerating price increases for fluorspar. As evidenced by this increase in buying activity, the acid-grade fluorspar will continue to be the most widely used class of fluorspar to manufacture hydrofluoric acid in the United States.
The demand for fluorspar used in hydrofluoric acid production is expected to remain strong. Renewable battery-electrolytes and lithium-ion components will rely on more fluorochemical products used in manufacturing hydrofluoric acid. Domestic large-scale production of fluorspar is not expected until 2026; however, several firms are currently exploring and developing production initiatives, which may add to future supply. Most of these firms are in the process of developing domestic hydrofluoric acid volumes for themselves.
According to the ChemAnalyst database, the outlook for fluorspar production in the US is expected to improve starting in 2026. The price for fluorspar is expected to remain firm and may even increase as inventories continue to decrease, while imports continue to flow seasonally, and demand from the hydrofluoric acid, chemical, and metallurgy sectors continues to be solid.
