A Peek behind Russia’s Asbestos Curtain
When it comes to asbestos, I have learned that nothing is ever straightforward. For that reason, it pays to closely investigate the facts as they are presented. Earlier this week, I happened to chance upon a document uploaded in February 2026 by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
In the screenshot from the USGS website you can see that global mine production for 2024 and 2025 was respectively 949,000 and 960,000 tonnes (t) “a decrease of nearly 55% from approximately 2 million tonnes in 2000.”1 This, in itself, was enough to make me sit up and take notice.
 May 12, 2026 Screenshot of USGS website. |
The next thing that grabbed my attention was the low figures for Russian asbestos production: 306,900t (2024) and 310,000t (2025). Considering that total annual output from Russia’s two asbestos mining conglomerates for the five years preceding 2024 averaged ~715,000t, the apparent “collapse” in production was certainly noteworthy. This development could, I thought, be an important portent as Russia has for decades been the world’s largest asbestos supplier. I decided to do a bit of digging.
Fortunately, I knew just who to contact. To the questions I posed, the informed source responded as follows:
- “The lower global production for 2024 and 2025… was a bit of a mirage. The totals were low because of unusually low production in Russia, but we've since received updated data… which show world production similar to what it's been for the past ten years or so.”
- “recent production in Russia originally appeared to be low… but newer data indicates that it hasn't been. They are producing at typical levels…”
- “some of the production certainly goes into stockpiles (for which we have no data), but most of what isn't exported is likely used to manufacture products in Russia.”
Data from importing countries reported that between 2022 and 2025, the price/t of Russian asbestos remained fairly stable ranging from a low of $480/t to a high of $500/t. No data was available on prices for 2026.
Obviously, any decline in global asbestos production has to be a good thing and a dramatic fall in Russian output would have been most welcome. This will come in time, I am sure. Until then, IBAS will continue to monitor developments.
 |
May 14, 2026
_______
1 USGS. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 Asbestos. Accessed May 12, 2026.
https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-asbestos.pdf
