Calcium metal is a silver-white light metal, and its common properties are lumpy, crumb, and granular. Among them, calcium metal particles are mainly used to produce calcium-based cored wires, which are used in the production of high-purity steel and steel sheet. The main alloys of calcium metal are calcium aluminum alloy and silicon calcium alloy.
This article will make the latest analysis of the market development of the calcium metal industry and the calcium metal price trend in 2021.
Important Application Areas of Calcium Metal
As a very active metal, calcium metal is often used as a powerful reducing agent. Its main uses include the following.
- Calcium metal is used in deoxidation, desulfurization and degassing processes in steelmaking and cast iron industries.
- Calcium metal can be used for deoxidation in the production of chromium, niobium, samarium, thorium, titanium, uranium and vanadium.
- As an alloy substance, calcium metal is used in the lead industry to produce maintenance-free car batteries. It can increase the strength of raw materials and improve their corrosion resistance and creep resistance.
- In the production of various non-ferrous metals, rare earth and refractory metals, calcium metal can be used as a deoxidizing and reducing agent.
- Used as a deoxidizer in the production of high-purity steel and non-ferrous alloys.
Overview of Calcium Metal Market
The main market demand distribution of calcium metal
The downstream market of calcium metal is dominated by the steelmaking industry. As the development speed of developing countries accelerates, various infrastructure constructions require steel. The vigorous development of the iron and steel industry will surely boost the demand for calcium metal in the future.
The main production area of calcium metal
Limestone, the main raw material of calcium metal, is widely distributed and exists in the earth’s crust. The main component of limestone is calcium carbonate, and most of the natural calcium exists in the form of calcium carbonate.
At present, the world’s total calcium carbonate production capacity has reached 70 million tons, of which the United States is more than 21 million tons, Japan is 11.2 million tons, European countries have a total of more than 19.6 million tons, and South America’s output is about 11.2 million tons. China It has exceeded 7 million tons.
China’s calcium metal production capacity is rich in resources
In China, calcium carbonate, the main raw material of calcium metal, is rich in mineral resources, with reserves of approximately 54.2 billion tons. Dolomite in Northeast China, gypsum in Tibet, Shandong, Jiangsu, Ningxia, and Shanxi, fluorite in Zhejiang, and marble in Yunnan. In addition, China also has a large amount of iceland stone and calcite.
More than 8,000 cement limestone mines have been discovered nationwide, of which 1,286 have proven reserves. Among them, there are 257 large-scale deposits, 481 medium-sized deposits, and 486 small-sized deposits (large-scale ore reserves greater than 80 million tons, medium-sized ore reserves of 40-80 million tons, and small-scale ore reserves less than 40 million tons), with a total of 54.2 billion tons of ore reserves. Limestone reserves are 50.4 billion tons, accounting for 93%, and marble reserves are 3.8 billion tons, accounting for 7%.
China has abundant calcium carbonate resources, which can effectively meet the production needs of the calcium metal market. With the help of huge production capacity, the price of calcium metal produced by Chinese companies has become more competitive in the international market.
Calcium Metal Price Trend Analysis
International calcium metal prices have maintained a relatively stable trend for many years. The main reason is that the international demand for metallic calcium is relatively stable, with a slight increase in some years, but the overall demand has not changed much.
Since the role of calcium metal in many application fields can be replaced by the use of silicon-calcium alloy and metal magnesium, when the price of metal calcium fluctuates, other types of alloys can be selected for production. This has adjusted the demand for metallic calcium in the international market to a certain extent, thereby stabilizing the calcium metal price per kg.
What factors affect the fluctuation of calcium metal price?
The world’s major calcium metal producers are the United States, Canada, France, Russia, and China. Due to problems such as production costs and pollution, calcium metal manufacturers in the United States, Canada, and France have gradually reduced or stopped production many years ago and switched to buying calcium metal products from China and Russia.
At present, the annual production capacity of calcium metal in China and Russia is about 15,000 tons, and the total demand for calcium metal in the world is about 10,000 tons per year. Therefore, with the overall demand unchanged, the price fluctuation of raw materials may become the main factor affecting the calcium metal price.
Rapid Development of China’s Calcium Metal Industry
China’s calcium metal industry experienced rapid development from 2008 to 2010. In the past five years, the overall productivity of calcium metal and the scale of the monomer industry has increased significantly. The upstream industry has reached a new level. The overall domestic industrial scale has reached 40,000 tons/year, which is an average annual increase of 30% compared with the world’s 12,000 tons/year in 2005. The maximum monomer scale has increased from 7,000 tons (electrolysis)/year to 18,000 tons (reduction)/ year.
In the following years, the development of various calcium metal products accelerated, and calcium metal companies continued to innovate in the research and development of new products. The electrolytic calcium industry technology keeps improving, the production technology of the aluminothermic method for reducing calcium is constantly improving, and the output of a single tank has made a major breakthrough.
The use of calcium blocks, calcium shavings, calcium granules, calcium rods, calcium wires, and other series of products has continued to bring forth new ideas, and calcium-based series alloy products have made major breakthroughs in their applications. A new breakthrough has been made in the production technology of the calcium silicate fire method, and the industrial test of solid-core pure calcium cored wire has been recognized by end-users.