By Richard I. Gibson
In this post on gallium in March 2011, I said there was no
limitation in sight to the increasing price of gallium. But I was wrong.
After five years of prices ranging from averages of $688 per
kilogram (2011) to $449 (2009), gallium’s price plummeted to about $275/kg in
October 2012. Why? The simple rules of supply and demand.
China ramped up its gallium production anticipating a rapid
increase in use of gallium-based LED’s (light-emitting diodes) in back-lighting
for computer and other electronic device displays, but the growth of that
industry was much less than projected. Supply outran demand, and the price
fell. China increased world gallium capacity dramatically, by about 35% in two years, while demand simply grew at a normal pace.
In the long run, gallium has a bright future, because of its
critical use in smartphones, where ten times the volume of gallium arsenide is
used over conventional cell phones. The likely slow but steady
growth in CIGS (copper-indium-gallium diselenide) solar cells will also contribute to increases in gallium demand.
The $32-million US gallium industry relies almost entirely
on imports from refineries in Germany (32% of imports), U.K. (27%), China (15%)
and Canada (11%), a slight reorganization of sources from my 2011 post.
Integrated circuits consume 71% of gallium in the U.S., with the other 29%
going to solar cells, photodetectors, and telecommunications devices like smartphones.
Gallium in January 2013 was priced at about $280/kg.
