Demand share by mineral
How much of each mineral’s demand comes from robotics.
Critical Minerals and Components for Robotics
- Critical minerals
- 48
- Components
- 5
- Linked companies
- 76
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Supply
Components for robotics
The components robotics depends on, tightest supply first, with each one’s supply verdict, price change over one month and one year, and top import origin.
| Name | Type | Supply | 1M change | 1Y change | Top origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial robots | Component | Stable | −3.8% | +595.4% | China |
| Small DC motors and servo motors | Component | Stable | −9.1% | +3.0% | Mexico |
| Ball bearings | Component | Easing | −12.2% | +0.6% | China |
| Gears, gearboxes and precision reducers | Component | Stable | −24.4% | −45.1% | Germany |
Minerals
The 48 critical minerals robotics depends on
Each mineral by name, with what it does in robotics, its Stockatomics benchmark price per kg and its change over the last month.
| Mineral | Role in Robotics | Price per kg | 1M change | Stocks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminum | Lightweight frames and housings | $3.63 | −7.7% | Aluminum stocks |
| Beryllium | Copper-beryllium springs and connectors | $1,600 | - | - |
| Boron | Neodymium-iron-boron magnets | $5.27 | −6.5% | - |
| Cerium | $2.10 | - | - | |
| Cesium | $104,000 | - | - | |
| Chromium | Bearing and gear steels | $1.86 | - | - |
| Cobalt | Battery cathodes and samarium-cobalt magnets | $56.81 | −3.9% | Cobalt stocks |
| Copper | Motor windings and wiring | $13.92 | +2.2% | Copper stocks |
| Dysprosium | Keeping motor magnets strong when they run hot | $274.30 | - | - |
| Erbium | $52.60 | - | - | |
| Europium | $31.26 | - | - | |
| Gadolinium | $34.58 | - | - | |
| Gallium | Gallium nitride motor drives and lidar | $1,530 | −11.0% | - |
| Germanium | Infrared and thermal sensors | $4,861 | −14.2% | - |
| Graphite | Battery anodes | $1.17 | −40.4% | - |
| Hafnium | $5,039 | +55.3% | - | |
| Holmium | $80.18 | - | - | |
| Indium | Sensors and displays | $732.37 | +5.7% | - |
| Iridium | $158,394 | +2.7% | - | |
| Lanthanum | $1.17 | - | - | |
| Lithium | Batteries in mobile and humanoid robots | $89.62 | +24.4% | Lithium stocks |
| Lutetium | $1,010 | - | - | |
| Magnesium | Lightweight structural parts | $3.99 | −2.0% | - |
| Manganese | Battery cathodes and alloy steels | $0.58 | - | Manganese stocks |
| Metallurgical coal | $0.15 | +1.2% | Metallurgical coal stocks | |
| Neodymium | Permanent magnets in the motors that move every joint | $85.14 | - | - |
| Nickel | Battery cathodes | $17.24 | −5.8% | Nickel stocks |
| Niobium | $42.82 | −0.6% | - | |
| Palladium | $41,504 | −5.2% | - | |
| Platinum | $53,892 | −1.6% | - | |
| Praseodymium | Permanent magnets, alongside neodymium | $89.40 | - | - |
| Rubidium | $24,530 | - | - | |
| Ruthenium | $44,386 | −5.4% | - | |
| Samarium | Samarium-cobalt magnets for demanding environments | $3.27 | - | - |
| Scandium | $5,200 | - | - | |
| Silicon | Chips and sensors | $2.85 | −5.5% | - |
| Silver | Electrical contacts | $2,040 | +5.7% | Silver stocks |
| Tantalum | Capacitors in control electronics | $628.07 | −6.4% | - |
| Terbium | Keeping motor magnets strong when they run hot | $1,188 | - | - |
| Thulium | $1,840 | - | - | |
| Tin | Solder in electronics | $52.30 | −0.2% | - |
| Titanium | High-strength lightweight parts | $0.83 | - | Titanium stocks |
| Tungsten | Cemented carbide tools and heavy components | $127.28 | −7.9% | - |
| Vanadium | Gear and tool steels | $23.90 | −9.7% | - |
| Ytterbium | $17.08 | - | - | |
| Yttrium | $11.43 | - | - | |
| Zinc | $3.79 | −0.2% | Zinc stocks | |
| Zirconium | $2.39 | −53.3% | - |
Products
Products in robotics
The robotics products Stockatomics maps to these minerals, by name.
- Collaborative robot (cobot)
- Delivery drone
- Humanoid robot
- Industrial robot arm (6-axis)
- Robotic servo actuator
- Warehouse autonomous mobile robot
Overview
Robotics and critical minerals
Robotics turns electricity into precise movement, and precise movement is built from critical minerals. Every joint of an industrial arm, a warehouse robot, a drone or a humanoid robot is driven by an electric motor, most of them using neodymium-iron-boron magnets, often with dysprosium or terbium to cope with heat. Copper windings, gearboxes of hardened steel and the electronics that control each motor add a long list of other minerals.
The newest generation raises the stakes. Humanoid and mobile robots carry their own batteries, sensors and computers, combining the mineral needs of an electric vehicle, a smartphone and an AI server in one machine. As carmakers and technology companies race to build them at scale, robotics is becoming a meaningful new source of demand for rare earths in particular.
Stockatomics maps 48 critical minerals to robotics, from the magnets in its motors to the chips that make it think.
Why these minerals
Why robotics needs these minerals
A robot is a collection of motors, sensors, batteries and computers, and each of those draws on critical minerals.
Motors and actuators
Most robot joints are driven by permanent-magnet motors using neodymium and praseodymium with boron, with dysprosium or terbium where they run hot. Samarium-cobalt magnets serve the most demanding environments, and copper windings carry the current.
Structure and gears
Lightweight frames use aluminum, magnesium and, in high-end designs, titanium, while gears, bearings and harmonic drives rely on steels alloyed with chromium, vanadium and manganese, cut with tungsten carbide tools.
Sensors and electronics
Cameras, lidar and touch sensors use silicon, gallium, germanium and indium, and the motor drives that control each joint increasingly use gallium nitride chips. Tantalum capacitors, tin solder and beryllium-copper connectors keep it all wired together.
Power
Mobile and humanoid robots carry lithium-ion batteries, drawing on lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite.
Supply chain
Robotics supply chain risks
Robotics depends above all on rare earth magnets, and China makes most of them. When China placed several heavy rare earths and magnet materials under export control in 2025, robot and drone makers outside China faced the same shortages as carmakers.
China is also the world's largest market for industrial robots and a leading manufacturer of humanoid and service robots, giving it advantages in components as well as materials. Batteries and chips add the supply chain risks of the electric vehicle and semiconductor industries.
What that means for robotics
- Robot makers outside China are securing magnet supply from new Western producers
- Motor designers are exploring ways to use fewer heavy rare earths
- Scaling humanoid robots will require magnet supply chains that do not yet exist outside China
Outlook
What is changing for robotics
As of October 2026, robotics is entering a new phase. Industrial robots continue to spread through factories, while humanoid and general-purpose robots, powered by advances in artificial intelligence, are moving from prototypes towards production.
What to watch
- Humanoids at scale: each humanoid robot needs dozens of motors and actuators, and plans to produce them by the hundred thousand would add significant rare earth demand
- Magnet supply: robot makers are competing with carmakers and defence for non-Chinese rare earth magnets
- Motor design: new designs aim to reduce heavy rare earths without losing performance
- Batteries and chips: autonomous robots combine the battery needs of vehicles with the computing needs of AI
- Drones: commercial and military drones are a fast-growing category of robotics with similar mineral needs
Stockatomics Terminal
More robotics data in the Terminal
This page shows which minerals robotics depends on and why. The Stockatomics Terminal shows how much: each mineral’s demand share, what that demand is worth, how it grows under each scenario and which companies are most exposed.
Implied demand value
What robotics’ demand for each mineral is worth at its benchmark price.
Demand growth scenarios
How robotics’ demand for each mineral grows under each scenario.
Companies by sector exposure
The listed companies ranked by how much of their value depends on robotics.
Companies
Companies linked to robotics
The 76 listed companies that produce, process or recover the minerals robotics depends on, or make or buy its components, by name. Ranked by sector exposure in the Terminal.
FAQ
Robotics critical minerals FAQ
Why does robotics need critical minerals?
Robots move using electric motors, most of which use rare earth permanent magnets, and they combine those motors with batteries, sensors and computers, each built from critical minerals.
How many motors does a humanoid robot need?
Dozens, one or more for each joint, which is why humanoid robots could become a significant source of demand for rare earth magnets if they are produced at scale.
Do robots need rare earths?
Most high-performance robot motors use neodymium-iron-boron magnets, often with dysprosium or terbium. Some designs use other motor types, usually with trade-offs in size or efficiency.
Which other minerals do robots use?
Copper for motor windings, aluminum and magnesium for lightweight frames, alloy steels for gears and bearings, lithium-ion battery minerals, and silicon, gallium and germanium in their electronics and sensors.
Which critical minerals does robotics need?
Robotics depends on 48 critical minerals: aluminum, beryllium, boron, cerium, cesium, chromium, cobalt, copper, dysprosium, erbium, europium, gadolinium, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, holmium, indium, iridium, lanthanum, lithium, lutetium, magnesium, manganese, metallurgical coal, neodymium, nickel, niobium, palladium, platinum, praseodymium, rubidium, ruthenium, samarium, scandium, silicon, silver, tantalum, terbium, thulium, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, ytterbium, yttrium, zinc and zirconium. Each mineral's role and price per kg is on this page.
Which companies are linked to robotics?
Stockatomics links 76 listed companies to robotics through the critical minerals they produce, process or recover and the components they make or buy, among them ABB (SWX: ABBN), Albemarle (NYSE: ALB), Alcoa (NYSE: AA), Alpha Metallurgical Resources (NYSE: AMR), Americas Gold and Silver (NYSE American: USAS) and Andrada Mining (AIM: ATM). See all 76.
The sectors that share most of robotics’ critical minerals.
Sources
Sources
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): the US critical minerals list and where each mineral is used.
- Company filings: each company’s minerals and its role in each.
- Stockatomics: each mineral’s benchmark price per kg.