China battle5 Aug 2019 16:05
Fluorspar – Principal Uses
There are two principal commercial grades of fluorspar produced:
Metallurgical-spar (60-96% CaF2)
Acid-spar (+97% CaF2)
Metallurgical-spar accounts for approximately 35% of the total fluorspar production with the principal applications being:
Steel production – used as a flux to lower the melting temperature and increase the chemical reactivity to help the absorption and removal of sulphur, phosphorus, carbon and other impurities in the ****
Cement – used as a flux to speed up the calcination process and enables the kiln to operate at lower temperatures
Acid-spar, the grade of fluorspar which the Company is planning to produce, accounts for approximately 65% of total fluorspar production with the principal applications being:
Aluminium production – used to produce aluminium fluoride (ALF3) which acts as a flux to lower the bath temperature in the manufacture of aluminium
Manufacture of hydrofluoric acid (HF) – the primary source of all fluorochemicals (the single largest consumer of fluorspar), with a wide range of applications including:
Fluorocarbons, e.g. refrigerant gases, propellants, etc
Electrical and electronic appliances
Metallurgical industry (extraction, manufacture and processing)
Lithium batteries
Pharmaceuticals, polymers and agrochemicals
Petrochemical catalysts
Fluorspar – Production, Consumption and Price Trend
The current global production of fluorspar is approximately 5.7 million tonnes per year:
Major producing regions: China (>50% of the world’s production); Mexico; Mongolia/CIS; S Africa
Major Consuming regions (highest to lowest): China; North America; Europe; Mexico; Russia
The global supply and demand for fluorspar grew over the decade 1998 to 2008
Since the global financial crisis in 2009 there has been contraction in acid-spar demand driven by a combination of environmental legislation and demand – fluorspar price has followed this downward trend
In 2017 prices for acid-spar have started to recover and the price recovery has continued through 2018, export price for acid-spar (FOB China) is a traditional benchmark price and is currently published as US$460-520/tonne (Industrial Minerals Magazine)
The price increases are believed to be driven by two key factors:
Increase in production of downstream value-added fluorspar products;
As China moves its focus to environmental protection they have implemented strict environmental policies and permitting requirements resulting in a number of fluorspar mines closing – Chinese fluorspar production down 13% year on year in 2017
Between 2012 and 2016 various fluorspar producers outside China have closed their mining operations
The equivalent price delivered into Europe (CIF Rotterdam), published as US$500-540/tonne, has now started to recover following the FOB China price recovery
Overall long-term upward trend in price
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