With the development of technology, the domestic and international cryolite market is still hot, and the country attaches great importance to environmental protection. Overall, international environmental issues pose a risk of rising costs for the electrolytic aluminum industry. With the development of technology, the domestic and international cryolite market remains hot. In recent years, the rapid expansion of China's electrolytic aluminum industry has further stimulated the development of the cryolite industry.
On April 7th, the market for cryolite remained stable and on the sidelines, with factory prices in Henan ranging from 7200 to 7800 yuan/ton; The factory price in Shandong is between 7300-8600 yuan/ton, and the actual transaction price is mainly negotiated. Upstream construction is relatively low, and the support for cryolite raw materials is good. Enterprise inventory is not under pressure, and negotiations for shipment are the main focus. Downstream purchasing enthusiasm is still good. Purchasing follows demand, and enterprise quotations are stable. In the future, the cryolite market will operate quietly, paying attention to changes in market transactions.
Cryolite is a mineral, a small white crystalline substance with no odor. It is used as a flux in the electrolytic aluminum industry and as a sunshade in the production of milky white glass and enamel.
Cryolite can be divided into high molecular weight cryolite and low molecular weight cryolite based on the ratio of sodium fluoride to aluminum fluoride molecules. Most domestic aluminum electrolysis plants in China use low molecular weight cryolite with a molecular ratio of 1.8-2.2 as the electrolyte for aluminum electrolysis. Due to the superior environmental protection and economic benefits of using high molecular weight cryolite compared to low molecular weight cryolite, various aluminum electrolysis plants in China are gradually using high molecular weight cryolite as an electrolyte for aluminum electrolysis. Cryolite can be divided into sandy cryolite, granular cryolite, and powdered cryolite based on its physical properties.
Development trend of cryolite industry
Since May 2020, the price of cryolite in China has shown an increasing trend. In 2021, the domestic cryolite market saw a significant increase, and the price trend can be described as a "clear distinction". In the first half of 2021, the market mainly operated smoothly in a straight line, while in the second half of 2021, the trend was "gradually rising". From the price trend, the price of cryolite rose throughout the year. Since 2022, there has been a slight decline only in February 2022, and a rebound immediately in March. As of April 2022, the price of cryolite in China was 7649 yuan/ton; The year-on-year growth rate is 19.51%, which is higher than the average value of 7.353% in the following report, indicating an optimistic growth rate.
From the perspective of China's import trade of cryolite, in recent years, the import amount of cryolite in China has shown a downward trend. In 2021, the import amount of cryolite in China was 323300 US dollars, a decrease of 681400 US dollars compared to 2020; The import quantity of cryolite is 11000 tons, a decrease of 2800 tons compared to 2020.
During the period from 2015 to 2020, the export amount and quantity of China's cryolite showed a V-shaped pattern. In 2021, both the export amount and quantity of China's cryolite decreased, with an export amount of 16.6892 million US dollars, a decrease of 10.339 million US dollars compared to 2020; The export quantity is 20600 tons, a decrease of 16000 tons compared to 2020.
The top three countries and regions in China's cryolite market are Malaysia, India, and the United Arab Emirates, with exports of 8646.50 tons, 2490.99 tons, and 2002.40 tons, respectively. The top three countries and regions in terms of export value are Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and Japan, with exports of 6.4107 million US dollars, 1.7931 million US dollars, and 1.6987 million US dollars, respectively.
Market Application Prospects of Cryolite Industry
Cryolite is mainly used as a flux for aluminum electrolysis; Also used as a wear-resistant additive for grinding products, it can effectively improve the wear resistance, cutting and cutting forces of grinding wheels, extend the service life and storage time of grinding wheels; Fluxes for ferroalloys and boiling steel, non-ferrous metal fluxes, casting deoxidizers, olefin polymerization catalysts, as well as emulsifiers for glass anti reflective coatings, enamel, glass whitening agents, flux for welding materials, fillers for the ceramic industry, pesticides and insecticides.
Since the beginning of this century, China's electrolytic aluminum production has increased by 2.65 times, and the market capacity of domestic cryolite has rapidly increased to nearly 300000 tons. Along with the increase in production, the layout of electrolytic aluminum production has also shifted from traditional main production areas such as Henan and Shandong to provinces and regions rich in coal and electricity such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. However, cryolite production enterprises are still concentrated in provinces such as Henan, Shandong, Hunan, and Yunnan, which is not in line with the current changing pattern of the main production areas of electrolytic aluminum.
From the perspective of the supply of cryolite raw materials, the Mengxi region has unique aluminum resources such as high alumina fly ash and high alumina coal gangue, as well as abundant sodium resources such as sodium sulfate (mirabilite), as well as fluorine resources such as fluorite, fluorosilicate or sodium fluorosilicate. These have laid a good resource foundation for the production and technological innovation of cryolite. Therefore, adopting a new process of cryolite with cost advantages to layout and develop the cryolite industry in the Mengxi region should be a good choice.
Electrolytic aluminum is obtained through the electrolysis process. Due to its lightweight material, strong conductivity and thermal conductivity, and easy recycling, it has gradually become one of the indispensable basic raw materials in modern industry, and has a high correlation with various industries. In the past two years, the global electrolytic aluminum market production has shown a stable growth trend. In 2020, the global electrolytic aluminum market production was about 65.3 million tons, an increase of 2.3% compared to the same period last year. By 2021, the global market production increased to 67.45 million tons, an increase of 3.3% compared to 2020.
The top three downstream application demand sectors in the global electrolytic aluminum market in 2021 are construction, integrated transportation, and packaging, with market proportions of 29.2%, 25.8%, and 12.6% respectively; The demand for cables, mechanical equipment, and consumer goods accounted for 10.8%, 6.6%, and 4.1% respectively. With the continuous expansion of global energy development scale and the stable increase in demand in the aluminum market, it is predicted that the global electrolytic aluminum market production will continue to grow, with the Asia Pacific region growing rapidly and becoming the leading force in the development of the global electrolytic aluminum market.
With the development of technology, the domestic and international cryolite market is still hot, and the country attaches great importance to environmental protection. Overall, international environmental issues pose a risk of rising costs for the electrolytic aluminum industry. To this day, significant progress has been made in the production of cryolite in terms of scale, product variety, and production technology. Especially in recent years, the rapid expansion of China's electrolytic aluminum industry has further stimulated the development of the cryolite industry.