Demand for gallium, produced mainly as a by-product of zinc and bauxite ores, is expected to continue to grow during the next few years, driven by new applications such as fifth generation (5G) smartphones, wireless, and solar cells, and by the use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are replacing incandescent and fluorescent lamps in lighting applications.
Production-wise, the market is adequately supplied and expected to remain so, with an estimated production of over 400t primary gallium in 2018, up by nearly 100t compared to 2017. Global output of primary gallium rose strongly between 2009 and 2015. In 2016, it fell as producers outside of China, including Japan, South Korea, Russia, and Ukraine, restricted their output owing to a large surplus of gallium. That year, Germany ceased production.
During the last decade, China has remained the leading producer for primary gallium, accounting for more than 80% of worldwide low-grade capacity. Chinese gallium output surged by over 30% y-on-y in 2018. Between 2010 and 2013, the country's capacity for production of primary gallium had tripled in expectation of growing demand for GaN LEDs for backlighting of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels used in tablet computers, mobile phones and TVs. At the time, while there was considerable growth in demand from this sector, the supply of gallium far outgrew requirements.
Demand for gallium has rapidly increased since 2014 as general lighting moved away from incandescent and fluorescent lamps to LEDs. General lighting is expected to remain a substantial sector for LEDs until the worldwide conversion to LEDs is complete.
A growing demand in all sectors for semiconductor (SC) and semi-insulator (SI) properties, which represents about 90% of gallium consumption, will lead to higher growth rates in the coming years. Most gallium is used as gallium arsenide (GaAs) or gallium nitride (GaN) devices.
Sectors in the gallium arsenide (GaAs) industry are expected to remain the largest end use market until 2025. Meanwhile, global gallium nitride (GaN) power device market is expected to grow by almost 30% in terms of value between 2017 and 2023.
Between 2014 and 2017, GaAs device demand increased from US$6.25bn to US$8.8bn. Consumption was boosted by growing wireless infrastructure in Asia coupled with the development of third (3G) and fourth (4G) generation smartphones and the use of military radar and communications applications.
5G is expected to be the next big catalyst for radio-frequency (RF) GaN and should increase the size of market threefold by 2023 compared to 2017.
The use of GaN components over silicon could represent significant opportunities in the future as silicon has reached its limits in solving critical power systems challenges. It is anticipated that GaN technology could help address the demand for energy efficient technologies.
After a five-year decline until the end of 2016 due to oversupply, gallium prices in China started to recover in 2017, with a 40% increase in 2018, as a result of restocking by consumers. In Europe, prices dropped at the end of 2018 owing to oversupply. The market, steady but still oversupplied, is likely to keep prices low in the short term, but longer-term prices may move higher in response to strong market demand.
Table of Contents
1. Executive summary
- 1.1 Primary gallium market trends to 2020
- 1.1.1 Consumption
- 1.1.2 Supply
- 1.1.3 Prices
- 1.2 Outlook to 2030
- 1.2.1 Demand
- 1.2.2 Supply
- 1.2.3 Supply/demand balance
- 1.2.4 Prices
2. Supply chain flowchart
3. World production
- 3.1 Raw materials production
- 3.2 Primary gallium production
- 3.3 Primary gallium production capacity
- 3.4 Primary gallium producers
- 3.5 Refined gallium production
- 3.6 Refined gallium producers and recyclers
- 3.7 Production costs
4. World consumption
- 4.1 China
- 4.2 Europe
- 4.3 Japan
- 4.4 USA
5. International trade
6. Prices
7. Outlook
- 7.1 Demand
- 7.2 Supply
- 7.3 Supply/demand balance
- 7.4 Prices
8. Background
- 8.1 History, properties and occurrence of gallium
- 8.1.1 History
- 8.1.2 Chemical and physical properties
- 8.1.3 Occurrence and resources
- 8.2 Recovery, recycling and refining
- 8.2.1 Recovery of primary gallium
- 8.2.1.1 Recovery as a by-product of aluminium
- 8.2.1.2 Recovery as a by-product of zinc
- 8.2.2 Recycling and secondary recovery
- 8.2.3 Refining and purification
9. Sustainability
- 9.1 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
- 9.1.1 Environmental
- 9.1.1.1 Resource consumption
- 9.1.1.2 Emissions
- 9.1.1.3 Biodiversity and land use
- 9.2 Critical Raw Materials (CRM)
- 9.3 Responsible Sourcing Initiatives (RSI)
10. Country profiles
- 10.1 Australia
- 10.2 Belgium
- 10.3 Bolivia
- 10.4 Canada
- 10.5 China
- 10.5.1 Bauxite and alumina
- 10.5.2 Primary gallium production
- 10.5.3 Primary gallium producers
- 10.5.4 Upgrading, recycling and manufacturing
- 10.6 France
- 10.7 Germany
- 10.8 Hungary
- 10.9 India
- 10.10 Japan
- 10.11 Kazakhstan
- 10.12 South Korea
- 10.13 Russia
- 10.14 Slovakia
- 10.15 Ukraine
- 10.16 UK
- 10.17 USA
11. End uses
- 11.1 Electronic devices
- 11.1.1 Characteristics of gallium compound semiconductors, and their manufacturing processes
- 11.1.1.1 Gallium arsenide
- 11.1.1.2 Gallium nitride
- 11.1.1.3 Gallium antimonide
- 11.1.1.4 Gallium phosphide
- 11.1.1.5 Epitaxial layering
- 11.1.1.6 Alternative semiconductor substrates
- 11.1.2 Producers of gallium compounds and substrates
- 11.1.3 Semiconductor market development
- 11.2 Minor uses
- 11.2.1 Photovoltaic cells
- 11.2.2 Magnets
- 11.2.3 Other
12. Company profiles
- 12.1 5N Plus
- 12.2 Advanced Wireless Semiconductor Company (AWSC)
- 12.3 Aluminium Corporation of China (Chalco)
- 12.4 Ammono
- 12.5 Arima Optoelectronics
- 12.6 AXT
- 12.7 AZZURO Semiconductors
- 12.8 Beijing Jiya Semiconductor
- 12.9 China Crystal Technologies (CCT)
- 12.10 CMK
- 12.11 CREE
- 12.12 Dowa Electronics Materials
- 12.13 East Hope Mianchi Gallium Industry
- 12.14 Eurasian Natural Resources
- 12.15 Freiberger Compound Materials (FCM)
- 12.16 Furukawa Denshi
- 12.17 GIRMET
- 12.18 Hitachi Cable
- 12.19 Indium Corporation
- 12.20 IQE
- 12.21 Korea Zinc
- 12.22 MACOM Technology Solutions (MACOM)
- 12.23 MTI
- 12.24 MAL Hungarian Aluminium
- 12.25 Mitsubishi Chemical
- 12.26 Neo Performance Materials (Neo)
- 12.27 Nichia
- 12.28 Nippon Rare Metal
- 12.29 OSRAM Licht Group
- 12.30 PPM Pure Metals
- 12.31 Rasa Industries
- 12.32 Raytheon
- 12.33 Rusal
- 12.34 Shanxi Jiahua Tianhe Electronic Materials
- 12.35 Shanxi Zhaofeng Gallium
- 12.36 Shenhua Zhungeer Energy
- 12.37 Spire Semiconductor
- 12.38 Sumitomo Chemical
- 12.39 Sumitomo Electric Industries
- 12.40 Sumitomo Metal Mining
- 12.41 TriQuint Semiconductors
- 12.42 Vital Materials
- 12.43 WIN Semiconductors
- 12.44 Xiaoyi Xingan Gallium
- 12.45 Zhuzhou Keneng New Material
- 12.46 Zhuhai Fangyuan
13. Macro economic outlook
List of Tables
- Table 1: Forecast gallium prices, 2020-2030
- Table 2: World: Production of primary gallium by country, 2015-2020
- Table 3: World: Primary gallium production capacity by country/company, 2019
- Table 4: World: Summary of refined gallium producers, 2020
- Table 5: Principal countries: Estimated consumption of gallium, 2015-2020
- Table 6: China: Gallium supply/demand, 2015-2020
- Table 7: Germany: Estimated gallium supply/demand, 2015-2020
- Table 8: Japan: Estimated gallium supply/demand, 2015-2020
- Table 9: World: Exports of gallium metal and powders, 2015-2020
- Table 10: Selected countries: Exports of gallium metal and powders by destination, 2015-2020
- Table 11: World: Imports of gallium metal and powders, 2015-2020
- Table 12: Selected countries: Imports of gallium metal and powders by origin, 2015-2020
- Table 13: World: Reported trade in gallium wafers, 2010-2020
- Table 14: USA: Imports of GaAs wafers, 2010-2020
- Table 15: Quarterly gallium metal prices, 2015-2020
- Table 16: Properties of gallium
- Table 17: Indicative gallium content of GaAs wafer scrap
- Table 18: Critical raw materials identified by key government bodies
- Table 19: China: Summary statistics for bauxite and alumina, 2015-2020
- Table 20: China: Alumina production by bauxite source, 2015-2019
- Table 21: China: Summary data for primary gallium, 2015-2020
- Table 22: China: Summary of principal primary gallium producers
- Table 23: China: Summary of key downstream gallium companies
- Table 24: China: Exports1 of GaAs wafers to Taiwan and the USA, 2015-2020
- Table 25: Germany: Summary data for primary gallium, 2015-2020
- Table 26: Japan: Summary data for gallium, 2015-2020
- Table 27: Japan: Summary of principal gallium producers and processors
- Table 28: South Korea: Summary data for primary gallium, 2015-2020
- Table 29: Slovakia: International trade in gallium metal, 2015-2020
- Table 30: UK: International trade in gallium metal, 2010-2017
- Table 31: USA: Summary data for gallium, 2015-2020
- Table 32: Major manufacturers of gallium compound substrates and wafers
- Table 33: World: Production of PV cells by region, 2010-2019
- Table 34: Indium Corporation: Fusible alloys
- Table 35: Chalco: Production of primary gallium, 2015-2020
- Table 36: AXT: Summary of gallium substrate and raw materials product groups
- Table 37: CMK: Gallium Recycling and refining, 2005 to 2009
- Table 38: GIRMET: Gallium-based SC and SI single crystals and wafers
- Table 39: Base Case Forecast GDP for top-30 economies and regions, 2019-2030
- Table 40: Base Case Forecast GDP growth rates for top-30 economies and regions, 2019-2030
- Table 41: Base Case Forecast GDP per capita for top-30 economies and regions, 2019-2030
- Table 42: Forecast population for top-30 economies and regions, 2019-2030
- Table 43: Forecast inflation for top-30 economies and regions, 2019-2030
- Table 44: Forecast exchange rates and energy prices, 2019-2030
List of Figures
- Figure 1: World: Estimated consumption of primary gallium by principal markets, 2020
- Figure 2: World: Estimated consumption of gallium by form, 2020
- Figure 3: World: Production of primary gallium, 2002-2020
- Figure 4: Gallium prices, 2015-2020
- Figure 5: World: Forecast gallium demand by form, 2021-2030
- Figure 6: Gallium supply chain flowchart
- Figure 7: World: Production and price of primary gallium, 2005-2020
- Figure 8: World: Primary gallium production capacity, 2019
- Figure 9: World: Production of primary and refined gallium, 2010-2020
- Figure 10: Comparison of year-end primary gallium market prices and estimated China production cost, 2015-2020
- Figure 11: World: Estimated gallium supply/demand balance, 2015-2020
- Figure 12: World: Estimated breakdown of gallium consumption by application
- Figure 13: World: GaAs wafer market, 2019
- Figure 14: China: Consumption of gallium by application, 2016
- Figure 15: Japan: Estimated consumption of gallium by application
- Figure 16: USA: Consumption of gallium by application, 2016
- Figure 17: USA: Consumption of gallium, 2004-2020
- Figure 18: USA: Consumption and imports of gallium, 2010-2020
- Figure 19: USA: Gallium supply/demand balance, 2010-2020
- Figure 20: World trade in gallium metal and powders, 2015-2020
- Figure 21: Gallium 99.99% metal quarterly spot prices, 2005-2020
- Figure 22: World: Forecast demand for gallium by form, 2020 and 2030
- Figure 23: World: Forecast demand for gallium demand by principal markets, 2021-2030
- Figure 24: World: Gallium supply/demand balance, 2020-2030
- Figure 25: Gallium price forecasts, 2020-2030
- Figure 26: Simplified gallium processing flowchart
- Figure 27: UN sustainable development goals
- Figure 28: Roskill's ESG framework
- Figure 29: Criticality matrix
- Figure 30: European CRM list, 2020
- Figure 31: China: Production of primary gallium by province, 2020
- Figure 32: China: Monthly production of primary gallium, 2017-2020
- Figure 33: USA: Imports of gallium metal, 2010-2020
- Figure 34: USA: Imports of GaAs wafers, 2010-2020
- Figure 35: USA: Imports of GaAs wafers, 2010-2020
- Figure 36: Single-crystal growth technologies
- Figure 37: World: Production of PV cells by type, 2015-2019
- Figure 38: AXT: Consolidated sales by region, 2019
