Chinese gallium market slow

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 5 Apr 06 - Chinese gallium market remains slow because of low demand in the market, but suppliers still take favorable views towards the future market.

"Due to sluggish market, we lower the price of gallium slightly," said an official from a smelter. "With domestic price down from RMB3,250-3,300/kg [USD405-411/kg] to RMB3,100/kg [USD386/kg] and export price from USD310/kg to USD300/kg.Asian Metal Copyright .Asian Metal Copyright"

Major applications of gallium are in semiconductor and magnetic material industries. Although the semiconductor industry is booming, but consumers are consuming gallium inventories.Asian Metal Copyright Therefore, demand from this industry becomes low.Asian Metal Copyright Therefore, demand from this industry is stable, seeing no increase.Asian Metal Copyright What's more, stockpiles of end-users are reducing, so demand for gallium may see some changes in the second half 2006.Asian Metal Copyright

As for demand from magnetic material industry, these consumers are going through hardships because of price increases of rare earth metals (for example, dysprosium and terbium). Therefore, demand from this industry becomes low.Asian Metal Copyright"Due to sluggish market, we lower the price of gallium slightly," said an official from a smelter.Asian Metal Copyright

However, the source is optimistic towards the future market, because more countries are paying increased attentions to save energy. What's more, stockpiles of end-users are reducing, so demand for gallium may see some changes in the second half 2006.