Strategic Mineral Materials Market - Forecast(2023 - 2028)

Strategic Mineral Materials Market Overview

Strategic Mineral Materials Market size is expected to be valued at US$108.1 billion by the end of the year 2026 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period from 2021-2026. The growing focus of the developed and developing countries to enhance their mineral reserves along with economy in order to avoid any material emergency across the country is driving the growth of strategic mineral materials market. The increase in the demand for strategic minerals from various key-end use industries such as construction, electrical and electronics, mining, automotive, and medical industry is driving the market growth. The growing use of Diamond tools for various purposes such as drilling and cutting purposes in key use industries such as oil and gas and construction industry is giving rise to the demand for strategic mineral materials market. Furthermore, minerals such as gallium is extensively used in integrated circuits of electrical products and magnetic alloys made of strategic mineral cobalt is used in precision electronics. The rise in the use of flame retardants in electronics is also boosting the growth of the strategic mineral materials share.

COVID-19 impact

Amid the covid-19 pandemic there has been a disruption in the growth of the strategic minerals market in terms of production and supply chain management. The economic slowdown has hampered the growth and development of strategic minerals market due to the various restrictions and limitations laid down during the pandemic. The global import and export restrictions during the economic lockdown played a significant role in the slowdown of the strategic mineral materials market. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy observed that India could only install 67% of its annual renewable energy capacity addition target in the year 2019-2020. The economic restrictions and limitations is hugely affecting the growth of the strategic mineral materials market.

Strategic Mineral Materials Market Report Coverage

The report: “Strategic Mineral Materials Market– Forecast (2021-2026)”, by IndustryARC, covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the Strategic Mineral Materials Industry.

By Minerals: Antimony, Copper, Bismuth, Tin, Cobalt, Niobium, Lithium, Nickel, Platinum Group Elements, Rare Earth Elements, Titanium, Vanadium, Zinc and Graphite.
By Grade: Optical Grade, Vacuum Grade, Reactor Grade, Commercial Grades and Superconducting Grade.
By Form: Lumps, Fines, Briquette, Powder, Crystal Powder and Ingot.
By End-Use Industry: Aerospace, Automotive, Medical, Electricals & Electronics, Construction, Energy & Power, Packaging, and Others.
By Geography: North America (U.S, Canada, Mexico), Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, France, Netherlands, Belgium Spain, Russia and Rest of Europe), APAC (China, Japan India, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Rest of South America), and RoW (Middle East and Africa)

Key Takeaways

• Asia-Pacific market held the largest share in the strategic mineral materials market owing to the increase in demand for strategic minerals from various key-use industries in China, India and South Korea.
• The increase in demand to manufacture aircrafts across the globe has also contributed to the increase in the strategic mineral materials market, since minerals like lithium (in batteries), copper (in wirings) and titanium (in engines) are extensively used in the manufacture of aircrafts.
• The extensive use of electronics has led to the increase in demand for strategic minerals as they are used in the manufacture of electronics product.
• The covid-19 pandemic has affected the strategic mineral materials market, which had has led to the slowdown of the strategic mineral materials industry.

 Figure: Asia-Pacific Strategic Minerals Materials Market Revenue, 2020-2026 (US$ Billion)

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Strategic Mineral Materials Market Segment Analysis - By Minerals

Niobium segment held the largest share of more than 20% in the strategic mineral materials market in the year 2020. The carbon content in niobium is the major factor that drives the demand for niobium in the strategic mineral materials market. As niobium has a high affinity to carbon, forming carbides and carbon nitrides, which is often added to steel and stainless steel in the form of Ferro-niobium to maintain a balanced package of properties. Niobium is usually used in the manufacture of steel, super alloys, magnetic alloys and superconducting magnets. Niobium has high resistance to corrosion, high melting point and superconductor properties, which makes them a highly preferred type of strategic mineral materials to use across various end–use industries like automotive, process, and electrical and electronics.

Strategic Mineral Materials Market Segment Analysis -By Grade

Commercial grade segment held the largest share of more than 25% in the strategic mineral materials market in the year 2020. The commercial grade of strategic minerals has a wide range of application, thus gaining the highest demand in the strategic mineral materials market. The commercial-grade is used commonly in various key-use industries like construction, automotive, and electrical and electronics. Strategic minerals such as graphite and gallium are extensively used in the integrated circuits of many electronic products such as mobile phones, televisions, radio, computers and others. Therefore, the growth in the electrical and electronics industry is giving a boost to the growth of the strategic mineral materials market.

Strategic Mineral Materials Market Segment Analysis -By Form

Lumps segment held the largest share of more than 25% in the strategic mineral materials market in the year 2020. Strategic minerals are commonly used as a raw material in the production of products such as precision tools and steels. The strategic minerals are used as lumps, and are easier to be modified and used in any other form later. Lumps are also easier to store and only occupy less shelf space, thus making it a preferred and economical form of strategic minerals. This has increased the demand for lumps in the strategic mineral materials market. Strategic mineral materials like graphite is used as raw material in various key-use industries such as the defense industry for products like arms and ammunition, construction industry for radiation shielding materials, flame retardants and medical industry to produce artificial hearts and other medical devices. This is hugely driving the strategic mineral materials market. For instance, the total production of graphite in the year 2019 in the US stood at 58,000 tons (an increase of 11.53% as compared to the previous year 2018). Graphite is extensively used in brake linings, lubricants, powdered metals, refractory applications and steel-making. The increase in the use of graphite as lumps and as raw materials in various applications and end-use industry is driving the lumps segment in the strategic mineral materials market. 

Strategic Mineral Materials Market Segment Analysis -By End-Use Industry

Electrical and electronics segment held the largest share of more than 25% in the strategic mineral materials market in the year 2020. The production of integrated circuits in the electronic devices require the use of strategic minerals such as gallium and magnetic alloys in precision electronics. Thus, the increase in the use of electronic devices coupled with a growing population and changing lifestyle has led to the increase in demand for strategic mineral materials market. The increase in the use of flame retardants in electronic devices and applications is also hugely driving the strategic mineral materials market. Various strategic minerals ranging from gallium, iridium, graphite, niobium and lithium are used in electronics for various applications such as battery, magnetic energy storage, electronic vacuum devices, compact discs, and spin electronic devices. Thus, the rise in the manufacture of semi-conductor and electronics parts also drives the demand for strategic mineral materials in the electrical and electronics industry.

Strategic Mineral Materials Market Segment Analysis – By Geography

Asia-Pacific region held the largest share of more than 40% in the strategic mineral materials market in the year 2020. The increasing demand for electronic products in the region is hugely contributing to the increase in demand for strategic minerals such as lithium, gallium and titanium, as they are used in the manufacture of various electrical components such as inductance (coils), resistors, capacitor, integrated circuits and others. The increase in R&D activities in the electronics industry and the increasing demand for electronics in these countries is also playing a major factor in driving the strategic minerals materials market. The market size of global semi-conductor and electronic parts manufacturing increased in 2020 at 2.39% from the year 2019. The increase in the population in the APAC countries especially in China and India, coupled with the growing need and demand for a better lifestyle is also contributing to the growth of the strategic mineral materials market.

Strategic Mineral Materials Market Drivers

Growing focus by countries to sustain the Nation’s economic and national security

The growing focus on the national security by the countries across the globe is one of the biggest factors driving the growth of the strategic mineral materials market. After all the basic material infrastructure of any nation is built with help of strategic minerals. Furthermore, strategic minerals are also extensively used in defence industry for military aircrafts, armoured vehicles, weapons, sensors and others.). It is also used to sustain the economy in the form of imports and exports to other nations. 

Surging uses of strategic minerals in industrial tools

The use of strategic minerals like diamonds, titanium, copper and others in tools such as cutting tools, drilling tools, and precision tools, are used across various key-use industries which is driving the demand for strategic mineral materials market. The cutting and drilling tools are used in the oil and gas, construction, and mining industry. The increase in the number of oil well drilling, construction, and mining activities in the developed and developing regions are giving a boost to the strategic mineral materials market. According to the IBEF report, the total production of coal stood at 739.36 million tonnes in the year 2019 in India an increase of 7.34% in the production as compared to the previous year 2018. The oil wells drilled across the globe in various countries in the tear 2019 amount to 5,163 in North America, 2,438 in South America, 455 in Western Europe, 10,357 in Eastern Europe, 1,107 in Africa, 2,935 in Middle-East, 20,939 in South Asia, and 340 in South Pacific and a total of 43,734 in the world. 

Strategic Mineral Materials Market Challenges

Lack of Availability of mineral materials

All the strategic minerals are not available everywhere. Certain minerals such as lithium, copper and cobalt are available in a limited quantity and is gradually getting exhausted. Minerals such as lithium, copper and cobalt are easily available in countries like China and India. Certain minerals like rare earth elements needs to be exported from other places, which poses the challenge of transportation and higher prices. The increase in threat of exhaustion of minerals poses one of the biggest challenges to the strategic minerals market. For instance, the United States is not home to many strategic minerals (copper, rare earth elements) and it only produces 4% of the total world supply of strategic mineral materials. Other countries that faces the problem of shortage of minerals are European Countries. They rely on imports from other countries. This acts as huge challenge to the strategic mineral materials market.

Market Landscape

Acquisitions & mergers, expansions, new product launches, collaborations and investments are some of the key strategies adopted by players in the Strategic Mineral Materials Market. Major players in the Strategic Mineral Materials Market include:

1. Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração
2. Glencore
3. Intercontinental Mining
4. Materion Corporation
5. Indium Corporation
6. WARRIOR GOLD
7. South32
8. Fortune Minerals LTD.
9. Vale
10. Anglo American plc among others.

Acquisitions/Technology Launches

On December 3, 2020, GEM and Glencore entered into a partnership wherein the contract includes the supply of cobalt hydroxide by Glencore to GEM for the next five years. Under the terms of the agreement, Glencore will provide around 150,000 tonnes of cobalt contained in hydroxide for GEM between 2020 and 2029.

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