The supply capacity of the barium carbonate industry is "big but not strong", and the consumption increase is concentrated in electronic barium carbonate

1. Barium industry related definitions

Barium carbonate is an inorganic compound with a chemical formula of BaCO3. It is a white powder. It is insoluble in water but easily soluble in strong acids. It is poisonous and has a wide range of uses. Barium carbonate is a dangerous chemical, toxic, and can be decomposed into barium oxide and carbon dioxide under high temperature conditions. Barium carbonate is almost insoluble in water, insoluble in ethanol, soluble in strong acids such as hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, and ammonium chloride solution.

2. Development status of the barium industry

In recent years, with the increasingly stringent environmental protection supervision, barium carbonate's outdated production capacity has increased pressure on operation, and it has gradually withdrawn from the market. The market concentration of barium carbonate has continued to increase. China is a major producer of barium carbonate. In 2022, the barium carbonate industry will be affected by factors such as rising barite and coal prices, increasing difficulty in procurement, and slowing demand from downstream industries. The output of barium carbonate products will decrease year-on-year, and the overall output will be about 449,600 tons.

Analysis of the characteristics of Chinese barium carbonate production market:

(1) China is the world's largest producer of barium carbonate

Barium carbonate products are mainly used in the production of ceramics and ceramic glazes, functional glass, magnetic materials, electronic components, reflective materials and other barium salt products. At present, China has become the world's largest barium salt producer. The global annual production capacity of barium carbonate is about 900,000 tons, and the output is about 700,000 tons, while China's annual production capacity is about 700,000 tons, and the annual output is about 500,000 tons, accounting for more than 70% of the global barium carbonate production capacity and output. China's barium carbonate products have been exported for a long time, and it has become the world's largest exporter of barium carbonate. At this stage, the export volume has remained above 100,000 tons for a long time. China's barium carbonate is mainly exported to Spain, France, Russia and other regions.

(2) The supply capacity of China's barium carbonate industry is "big but not strong"

Although China is the largest producer and exporter of barium carbonate in the world, it is not a strong producer of barium carbonate. First of all, there are few large-scale barium carbonate production enterprises in China, and few enterprises have achieved large-scale production; secondly, China's barium carbonate product structure is single and lacks high-tech products. Although some factories are currently researching and producing high-purity barium carbonate, the stability is poor. For high-purity products, my country also needs to import them from companies such as Germany, Italy and Japan. In addition, in recent years, some countries have become new exporters of barium carbonate, such as Russia, Brazil, South Korea, and Mexico, resulting in an oversupply of the international barium carbonate market, which has had a huge impact on China's barium carbonate industry. No expense spared. At the same time, Chinese export companies were also subject to foreign anti-dumping investigations. With the continuous improvement of environmental protection requirements, some barium salt production enterprises in China are also facing environmental protection problems. In order to promote the development of China's barium salt industry, Chinese barium salt production enterprises should, based on environmental protection and safety, continuously develop and introduce advanced technologies, and develop new products that meet the requirements of the times and have high technological content.

3. Barium industry market demand

The demand of China's barium carbonate industry is related to the macro economy, and it is more obviously affected by the macro economy. It is greatly affected by the macro economy, the prosperity of downstream industries and the relationship between supply and demand, and has certain cyclical characteristics. At present, barium carbonate can be divided into industrial-grade barium carbonate and electronic-grade barium carbonate. Industrial-grade barium carbonate is mainly used in traditional fields such as ceramics and glass, and the market growth is limited; electronic-grade barium carbonate is mainly used in the field of electronic components. With the development of the electronics industry, the proportion of electronic grade barium carbonate market consumption has increased. The purity and added value of electronic barium carbonate are relatively high. With consumption upgrading, the increase in consumption of barium carbonate will be concentrated in electronic barium carbonate products.

(1) Ceramics

Ceramics are made by adding two kinds of clay with different properties, namely pottery clay and china clay, with various natural minerals, and going through the processes of selection, crushing, kneading, and calcination. At present, ceramics are mainly divided into architectural ceramics, sanitary ceramics, daily-use ceramics, artistic ceramics and special ceramics.

Since the reform and opening up, China's ceramic industry has continuously introduced foreign advanced ceramic manufacturing technology and equipment, upgraded kilns, and continuously introduced new firing technologies. Natural gas has gradually replaced coal-fired energy, achieving environmental protection and emission reduction effects. At the same time, on the basis of the original traditional ceramic manufacturing process and ceramic culture, we have improved, innovated and perfected related process technologies, and made great progress in product appearance design, color glaze manufacturing and cultural creativity. The ceramic industry has ushered in a good time development opportunities. Up to now, China has become the world's largest producer of ceramics. The data shows that in 2021, the output of my country's architectural ceramics will be 8.174 billion square meters, a year-on-year decrease of 4.61%; the output of sanitary ceramics above designated size will be 222 million pieces, a year-on-year increase of 2.5%.

(2) Electronic components

Electronic components are components of electronic components and small machines and instruments. They are the foundation of the modern electronics industry and involve almost all industrial sectors of the national economy and all aspects of social life.

In recent years, with the continuous development of the electronics industry, China's electronic components industry is also developing, and the scale of the industry is also expanding. The data shows that from 2017 to 2022, the market size of China's electronic components increased from 1.831 billion yuan to 2.2954 billion yuan. It is estimated that the market size of China's electronic components will reach 2,376.9 billion yuan in 2023.