BEIJING: Vital Materials Co, one of the world’s largest rare metal materials producers, intends to set up a research and development laboratory in France with its Belgian partner.
The project is part of the framework agreement signed with Cappelle Pigments NV last year, when Vital Materials acquired Cappelle’s pigment plant in Tianjin, said Li Jingzhen, deputy general manager of Vital Materials.
The company is the world’s largest selenium and tellurium materials producer and one of the leading manufacturers of gallium, indium, germanium, bismuth and cadmium products. The materials are used in products such as solar cells, light-emitting diodes, mobile phones, infrared detection devices, animal feed, lasers and medical equipment.
As part of the lab’s mission, related research would help answer to the increasing demand in China for non-hazardous pigments, Li said.
Vital Materials makes more than 100 types of products. Its success since its establishment in 2003 could be attributed to quick responses to market demand, Li said.
The company’s booked output stood at 1.9 billion yuan ($306.45 million) last year, down from the peak of 2 billion yuan in 2012, due to declining prices amid the global economic downturn, with about 60 percent of its products exported.
Annual output, however, is expected to top 10 billion yuan by 2017 with a market recovery and more products at the higher end.
The first phase of the joint venture with Belgian company Umicore for producing indium tin oxide sputtering targets is scheduled to go into operation by the end of this year.
When it becomes fully operational, the venture, formed last year and involving a total investment of 420 million yuan, is expected to grab more than 60 percent of the domestic market with annual output of 200 metric tons worth 1.5 billion yuan.
ITO targets are used in products such as TFT-LCD and OLED panels, touch screens and solar cells. The large-scale ITO targets market in China is dominated by overseas producers.
Vital Materials was authorized by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2013 to build the National Minor Metals Engineering Research Center.
To extend its value chain, the company is launching a complex in Qingyuan in the second half of this year for recycling waste containing rare and precious metals.
New materials are one of the 10 industrial sectors in the national plan called “Made in China 2025,” which was unveiled by the State Council last month.
The plan seeks to promote manufacturing, with greater governmental support.
The use of rare metals started to take off globally in the 1980s, driven by the electronics and information technology sectors, said Chen Shaochun, vice-chairman of the Rare Metals Metallurgy Committee of the Nonferrous Metals Society of China.
Demand has been growing steadily, with, for example, at least two products made from rare metals used in a single mobile phone, including the chip and the screen, and tight supplies for the solar cell industry.
China produces more than 60 percent of the basic gallium, indium, germanium, selenium and tellurium materials in the world, with some deeply processed, high value-added products having made their way into the market, he said.
Deep processing of rare metals is encouraged by the government to develop the nonferrous metal sector.
The fact that the National Minor Metals Engineering Research Center was set up by Vital Materials indicates a close link-up of the research and business sectors, which should facilitate the development of commercial products.
Although many smelting plants are also engaged in this business, companies like Vital Materials determine the direction of the sector, featuring a higher concentration of product types, deeper processing and higher added value.
The company runs a head office, a marketing office, a low-melt alloy plant and an infrared materials plant in the United States, a subsidiary in Brazil, and representative offices in countries and region such as Belgium, Britain, Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan.
