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Chokepoint sites & geography

Where global critical-material supply physically squeezes through: the single plants many companies depend on, world-critical facilities beyond our covered operators, and the countries — hosts and governments — that concentration adds up to.

The plants many companies depend on

ranked by rarest-material scarcity

The single physical facilities the largest number of tracked companies depend on, cross-material — sole-node chokepoints first. Our derived node-centrality layer over the dossier corpus; each material page carries the per-material drill-down.

🇺🇸Manitowoc, WisconsinoperatingUS

the only tracked node handling cerium · 1,114 tracked companies exposed to a material it handles

🇲🇾Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP), Gebeng, Kuantan, PahangoperatingMY

the only tracked node handling samarium · 609 tracked companies exposed to a material it handles

🇫🇷Jarrie, IsèreoperatingFR

the only tracked node handling hafnium · 6 tracked companies exposed to a material it handles

🇩🇪DresdenoperatingDE

1 of 2 tracked nodes handling helium · 2,066 tracked companies exposed to a material it handles

🇩🇪Ditzingen (HQ)operatingDE

1 of 2 tracked nodes handling helium · 1,696 tracked companies exposed to a material it handles

🇧🇷Carajás (S11D)operatingBR

1 of 2 tracked nodes handling iron-ore · 3 tracked companies exposed to a material it handles

🇧🇷Itabira/Mariana (Minas Central hub)operatingBR

1 of 2 tracked nodes handling iron-ore · 3 tracked companies exposed to a material it handles

🇺🇸Spruce Pine NC (via TQC JV 50%)operatingUS

1 of 2 tracked nodes handling quartz · 0 tracked companies exposed to a material it handles

🇺🇸Spruce Pine NC (IOTA)operatingUS

1 of 2 tracked nodes handling quartz · 0 tracked companies exposed to a material it handles

🇵🇪Antamina (22.5% JV interest), AncashoperatingPE

1 of 3 tracked nodes handling molybdenum · 1,758 tracked companies exposed to a material it handles

🇸🇪Zinkgruvan (Askersund)operatingSE

1 of 3 tracked nodes handling lead · 1,756 tracked companies exposed to a material it handles

🇩🇪Hamburg (Complex Recycling Hamburg / CRHoperatingDE

1 of 3 tracked nodes handling lead · 1,673 tracked companies exposed to a material it handles

degree = distinct tracked dossiers sharing ≥1 material this node handles — an upper-bound exposure count, not a traced buyer→node supply link. Ranked by how few tracked nodes handle the node's rarest material (a raw-degree sort just rewards ubiquitous materials).

Critical facilities — beyond our covered operators

66 sites · site-level single points of failure

Some single points of failure are a plant, not an element — and never surface in the covered-company board above, which can only rank nodes we happen to cover. This is a descriptive, accreting registry of world-critical single sites regardless of whether we track the operator: where a large share of global supply passes through one location a substitute can't quickly replace. It sits separate from the scored node board deliberately — a coverage-independent watch-list, never folded into any score.

🇧🇷Araxá Barreiro Complexoperator not coveredBrazil

niobium (ferroniobium/pyrochlore) mining & processing

Approx. 75-85% of world niobium supply

If it stops: ferroniobium is a workhorse microalloying addition for High-Strength Low-Alloy (HSLA) steel (pipelines, auto-body sheet, structural steel — a few hundred grams per tonne of steel meaningfully raises strength/weight);…

The plants many companies depend on

Critical facilities — beyond our covered operators

Government leverage — who squeezes the most

Broad-secondary producers — present across the basket, rarely #1

Host countries — where the tracked sites sit

The plants many companies depend on

Critical facilities — beyond our covered operators

Government leverage — who squeezes the most

Broad-secondary producers — present across the basket, rarely #1

Host countries — where the tracked sites sit