Recent export restrictions on gallium and germanium announced by China could affect exports of these two critical raw materials as early as August and tighten the global supply. However, TRADIUM GmbH, one of Europe’s most renowned suppliers of raw materials and metals, offers the processing industry a reliable supply of gallium and germanium and can guarantee prompt delivery of these metals to industrial customers.
Supply chains from China could break off
China is the largest exporter of gallium and germanium, metals widely used in the technology industry to produce, among other things, microchips, solar cells, and lasers. Last year, Chinese mines produced 540 tons of gallium and 70 tons of germanium. According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, exporters of the two metals will need to apply for export licenses as of Aug. 1, 2023, but it is not yet clear according to which criteria and how quickly the export permits will be issued. As a result, industrial users of these metals must determine the strength of their existing supply chains. China has a veritable monopoly on technology metals such as gallium, germanium, and indium and also dominates the mining and processing of rare earths. The country’s export restrictions could be extended to other metals besides gallium and germanium.
“Many companies are wondering whether their supply chains for raw materials will remain resilient once Chinese exporters have to go through a licensing process as of this August,” says Matthias Rueth, Managing Director of TRADIUM. “Industrial users without sufficient physical stockpiles of necessary materials may therefore face supply shortages.”
Stocks of strategic metals well filled
Fortunately, industrial users have a safety net in the form of TRADIUM. Thanks to its long-standing business relationships with producers and forward-looking raw material procurement, the company has healthy inventories of technology metals and rare earth elements stockpiled in its high-security warehouse in Frankfurt am Main.
Among others, the following raw materials are in stock:
Technology metals such as gallium, germanium, hafnium, indium, and rhenium.
Precious metals such as gold, iridium, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, and silver.
Rare earths in oxide form such as dysprosium, neodymium, praseodymium, terbium, and yttrium.
For each raw material and its processed products, TRADIUM, an ISO-certified company, offers detailed product specifications. Supply and demand can thus be quickly matched. Deliveries are made within a few days. TRADIUM can also store industrial materials for processing companies.
Besides strategic metals, TRADIUM also provides up-to-date news on the raw materials markets. Its raw materials blog for private customers regularly issues market updates and information on new applications of strategic metals. In addition, the company publishes monthly price charts for Strategic Metals. TRADIUM also supports the news portal rawmaterials.net, which provides daily updates on rare earths, technology metals, and precious metals.
Source: Tradium
