Taiwan

Taiwan is an island with limited mineral resources. Taiwan’s mineral processing, reliant on imported raw materials, was more influential globally than its mining. With advanced manufacturing, Taiwan was a key in supply chains for high-tech products like semiconductors.  

In 2024, mineral commodities produced in Tawain included pig iron, secondary lead, and raw steel. Data on mineral production are in the Production table (formerly table 1). Production of the mining and quarrying sector represented only a minor part of the economy of Taiwan (National Statistics, 2025). 

The legislative framework for the mineral sector in Taiwan is provided by the Mining Act of 1930 (as amended in 2016) and the Sand and Gravel Excavation Act of 2003 (as amended in 2021). The Geological Survey and Mining Management Agency oversees the mineral industry.  Government ownership was limited mainly to aluminum (China Steel Aluminium Corp.) and steel (China Steel Corp. and its subsidiary, Dragon Steel Corp.). The Facilities table (formerly table 2) is a list of major mineral industry facilities. More-extensive coverage of Government policies and programs can be found in previous editions of this chapter in the U.S. Geological Survey Minerals Yearbook, volume III, Area Reports—International—Asia and the Pacific, which are available at https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center/asia-…;

Commodity Review 

Iron and Steel.—In 2024, Taiwan’s leading raw steel producer, China Steel Corp., and its subsidiary, Dragon Steel Corp., produced 8.26 million metric tons (Mt) and 4.39 Mt of raw steel, respectively. The two companies exported a total of 5.38 Mt of steel products. In the global common-grade steel market, Taiwan's steel producers were facing export competition pressure from other steel-producing countries in Asia, including China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (China Steel Corp., 2025, p. 140, 147). According to China Steel Corp. (2025, p. 135), to compete with such major steel producers, China Steel and Dragon Steel were developing high value-added steel products with increased strength and toughness. 

Production table

(Metric tons, gross weight, unless otherwise specified)

References Cited 

• China Steel Corp., 2025, Annual report 2024: Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China Steel Corp., March 31, 212 p. (Accessed July 1, 2025, at https://www.csc.com.tw/csc_e/ss/bd/pdf/stock114_03.pdf.) 

• National Statistics, Accounting and Statistics [Taiwan], 2025, Gross domestic product by kind of activity (at current prices, 1981~): Taipei, Taiwan, National Statistics. (Accessed July 1, 2025, via https://eng.stat.gov.tw/cp.aspx?n=2334.)