Magnesium's Applications: Lightweighting Is 84 Percent of Demand
Castings and aluminium alloying, both aimed at reducing weight, together account for 84 percent of global magnesium demand.
Castings
Die-cast automotive and electronics housings, using the casting-friendly processing route covered on the mechanics page.
Aluminium-base alloys
Magnesium as an alloying addition, covered on aluminium's own materials science page, in the 5xxx series Al-Mg alloys.
Steel desulphurisation
Magnesium reacts with sulphur in molten steel, a real, specific metallurgical role separate from magnesium's own structural uses.
Other
A long tail of smaller chemical and industrial uses.
The breakdown
Magnesium’s demand concentration in weight reduction, either directly as a die-cast part or indirectly as an alloying element in aluminium, ties its fortunes tightly to the same automotive and aerospace lightweighting trend driving aluminium’s own transport demand, covered on aluminium’s application-wise page.
Sources: end-use shares reference this project’s own verified demand data (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025, International Magnesium Association).