Arkansas’ federal congressional delegation has submitted two letters to Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth to support expansion of vanadium production in the U.S. in order to counter the current effective control of vanadium supply chains by Russia and China.
In two separate letters to Hegseth, Arkansas Sens. Tom Cotton (R) and John Boozman (R) and Arkansas Reps. Bruce Westerman (R-4) and French Hill (R-2) urged Hegseth to direct the National Defense Stockpile to purchase and store at least one year’s supply of vanadium in order to better insulate the U.S. military and commercial manufacturers from potential supply chain disruptions because of Russia’s and China’s control of 75 percent of global vanadium supply chains. U.S. Reps. Troy Balderson (R-OH), Rich McCormick (R-GA), Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Randy Weber (R-TX) also joined in urging action.
Arkansas-based U.S. Vanadium is the leading producer of high-purity vanadium oxide in the U.S. It praised the Arkansas delegation for promoting more domestic production of vanadium, which is a U.S. government-designated critical mineral.
“We applaud the strong leadership of Senators Cotton and Boozman and Congressmen Westerman and Hill for alerting the Pentagon and the Trump Administration to the strategic vanadium vulnerability facing the U.S., and to take action to mitigate this threat by stockpiling vanadium and encouraging greater domestic production of this strategic material,” said US Vanadium Executive Chairman Mark Smith in a statement. “We also greatly appreciate the continuing strong support provided to our company by the entire Arkansas congressional delegation and for their ongoing efforts to support economic growth and job creation in Arkansas.”
The Arkansas senators wrote: “Vanadium is an official USGS critical mineral required for ballistic missiles, jet engines and airframes, night vision, armor steel, body armor, combat vehicles, and other weapons systems critical to national defense. China and Russia control 75% of the global vanadium supply, leaving the Department of Defense open to significant disruption in its weapons supply chain.
“Vanadium compounds such as high purity vanadium pentoxide and ferrovanadium are critical to applications where steel and titanium are used, meaning they are a key element of US defense and essential civilian technologies. The United States consumed 14,000 metric tons of vanadium in 2024, with domestic production only accounting for 3,800 metric tons. The United States imports high purity vanadium pentoxide from Brazil and South Africa, but market conditions threaten those supply chains. Ferrovanadium supply chains rely on material converted in-part from Russian and Chinese material. Currently, no substitute materials exist.
“The United States risks being left without viable resources of this critical mineral if the Department and Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) do not take decisive action. We request DLA immediately begin to stockpile at least one year of military and essential civilian uses of both ferrovanadium and aerospace grade vanadium pentoxide in the National Defense Stockpile (NDS). We also request the Department work with the rest of the United States government to prioritize domestic production of vanadium compounds, to include reviewing environmental and other regulations that stifle domestic production.”
The congressmen reiterated the need for action on vanadium: “When President Trump addressed the joint session of Congress on March 4, 2025, the President reiterated his support of dramatically expanding production of critical minerals and rare earth elements in America. Therefore, we ask your office to direct the DLA [Defense Logistics Agency] to stockpile at least one year of military and essential civilian uses of ferrovanadium and aerospace grade vanadium pentoxide. As our country reviews critical supply chains that are central to our competitiveness in the face of rising global threats, we urge you to consider the importance of vanadium and the concerning global supply chain of the industry.”
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