1. Current situation of inorganic salt industry

Inorganic salts have an early development history in our country and have a wide range of applications. With the advancement of technology, more and more inorganic salts have expanded from traditional fields to environmental protection, medical care, new energy and other fields, with broad prospects. The development of my country's inorganic salt industry can be roughly divided into four stages.

(1) Initial stage: The pioneer of my country's inorganic salts is Mr. Hou Debang, an outstanding chemical expert. In the 1920s, he presided over the construction of the first soda ash plant in Asia. In the 1930s and 1940s, it was in the development of national industry and the recovery period of the national economy in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. During this period, a number of inorganic salt products such as calcium carbonate, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, magnesium oxide, aluminum sulfate, and sodium hypochloride emerged as the times require, becoming the initial products of China's inorganic salt industry.

(2) Slow development period: From the 1950s to the 1980s, with the development of China's economic construction, a large number of inorganic salt products such as sodium hypophosphite, sodium tripolyphosphate and other phosphate products, anhydrous sulfuric acid, etc. A large number of inorganic salt products such as sodium, barium carbonate, potassium permanganate, white carbon black, and strontium carbonate have been put into production, but the production scale is small, the technology and equipment are backward, and the production is mainly based on workshops.

(3) Extensive development period: From the beginning of reform and opening up in the 1980s to the end of the 20th century, it was also a period of great development of the inorganic salt industry. The production scale continued to expand, production capacity and output increased rapidly, and product varieties continued to increase. At present, China has become the world's largest The largest producer, exporter and consumer of inorganic salts.

(4) New material transformation period: Entering the 21st century, with the increase of production capacity, resource and environmental problems have also emerged one after another. There are generally problems of too many low-end products, too many resource-based products, high material consumption and energy consumption, and backward technology , production enterprises with serious pollution and low utilization rate are gradually restricted and eliminated, which poses higher challenges to R&D and production technology. On the other hand, enterprises that comply with the national environmental protection and new energy policies will also face greater development prospects.

2. Overview of strontium salt industry

Strontium is the least abundant element among alkaline earth metals. In nature, it mainly exists in a compound state. The main ores are celestite (SrSO4) and strontite (SrCO3). Strontium element widely exists in mineral water and is an essential trace element for human body. my country began to produce strontium carbonate in the 1950s. The initial application range was limited, and the development was slow. Only laboratory-level small batch production, mainly producing a few products such as reagent-grade strontium carbonate, strontium nitrate, and strontium chloride, were used in the manufacture of electronic tubes. , Fluorescent fluorescent powder manufacturing, marine signal flares and military signal flares and other fields. After the 1970s, strontium salt entered the stage of industrial production, and strontium carbonate was mainly used in a large number of industries such as color picture tube glass bulbs and magnetic materials. The development speed accelerated, and it developed rapidly in the 1990s. Since the second half of 2008, the emergence of liquid crystals has begun to replace color glass bulbs in large quantities, which makes the demand for strontium carbonate continue to decline and gradually be eliminated. At the same time, high-purity strontium chloride, high-purity strontium nitrate and other products are gradually being used in liquid crystal, electronics, new batteries and automobile environmental protection emissions due to their low impurity, anti-caking, non-toxic and environmentally friendly performance as a model of new materials and other strategic emerging areas. To sum up, the development path of strontium salts is a process of first rising, then falling and then rising.

The variety of inorganic salts produced in my country has reached more than 1,300, with a total production capacity of 50 million tons and a total output of more than 38 million tons. The output of a considerable number of products ranks among the top in the world, including barium salts, strontium salts, hydrogen peroxide and a considerable amount of rare earth The output of more than 20 kinds of products including compounds ranks the top 2 in the world. Inorganic salt products have always been my country's traditional bulk export commodities, exported to more than 100 countries and regions in the world, with more than 200 kinds of products and more than 10 million tons of products exported every year, with an annual foreign exchange income of 8-10 billion US dollars. With the development of technology, the refinement rate of inorganic salt products has reached more than 35%, and it is increasing year by year, and the quality of a considerable part of products has reached or exceeded the world's advanced level.

China is the world's largest producer and consumer of strontium salt, and also the world's largest producer and exporter of liquid crystal grade strontium chloride, strontium nitrate, and high-purity strontium carbonate. Strontium salt was first widely used in my country in the form of strontium carbonate , due to the limitations of refining technology, the strontium products produced have low concentration and low quality, and most of them are used in traditional color picture tube glass bulbs and other fields, while high-end products such as plasma and liquid crystal display are basically imported from abroad. With the development of technology, its scope of application has also been continuously promoted with the development of science and technology, and more and more industries have begun to use new materials with strontium as the core, such as electronic devices, alloy fields, magnetic materials, nuclear medicine, etc. field.

(1) The field of electronic devices, such as liquid crystal glass, computer monitors, mobile phone screens, etc.

In the field of electronic devices, liquid crystal glass substrates currently have the greatest growth potential, and high-purity strontium carbonate, strontium nitrate, strontium chloride, etc. required for liquid crystal substrates are one of the main raw materials; at present, the country is encouraging independent liquid crystal With the construction of the glass substrate production line, the liquid crystal glass substrate production line will become more localized in the future, and the demand for high-purity strontium salt will increase accordingly.

(2) In the special field of alloys, adding strontium to magnesium and aluminum alloys can improve their high temperature creep and thermal cracking resistance. Alloys are important raw materials in the manufacture of automobiles, light rails, high-speed rails, aircraft, and ships.

(3) Other industries, such as the field of automobile exhaust; food packaging in the field of pigments, RMB red pigments, etc.; special fields of luminescent materials, such as highway night light indicators, various public places, light sources of building corridors, etc.; fluorescent materials Fields, such as energy-saving fluorescent lamps, energy-saving shadowless lamps, etc.; special fields of pigments, pyrotechnic materials, such as automobile explosion-proof airbags, signal flares, life-saving signals and other special industries; other fields such as health water, anticancer drugs, etc.

3. Unfavorable factors

(1) Impact of price fluctuations of main raw materials

Strontium is the element with the least alkaline earth metal content. At present, only a few countries such as China, Mexico, and Spain have proven strontium resources in the world. Therefore, it is an important scarce resource. The main raw materials of strontium salt are celestite and strontium carbonate ore. In the past, due to technical limitations, most strontium salt products were sold as rough processed products, and the waste was serious. As my country advances into a powerful industrial manufacturing country, more attention will be paid to the effective utilization of resources. Therefore, the price fluctuation of raw material products for the production of strontium salt is an important reason affecting the cost change of strontium salt products, and affects the final production through the industrial chain. finished product.

(2) Domestic enterprises have weak independent innovation capabilities and insufficient R&D investment

At present, most enterprises in my country's strontium product industry have insufficient capital investment, poor research and development capabilities, and few scientific research results. It needs to rely on imports, and the lack of core technology of enterprises has also become the biggest obstacle restricting the development of the industry.

4. Industry barriers

In the past 10 years, the use of strontium has been continuously promoted along with the development of science and technology, and its entry barriers are mainly manifested in the following aspects:

(1) Barriers to customer resources

The enterprises traditionally producing industrial strontium carbonate have become saturated, and the competition is fierce. However, the supply of middle and high-end strontium salt users in the international market mainly comes from suppliers in a few developed countries. The domestic high-end strontium salt is also mainly used for export, and some are supplied Well-known domestic enterprises, these enterprises have strict assessment on the selection of suppliers. Therefore, having high-quality domestic and international customers will form certain barriers for entrants.

(2) Technical barriers

Strontium salt products are widely used in the fields of electronics, alloy materials, automobile exhaust, luminescent and fluorescent materials, magnetic materials and pyrotechnic materials. However, the most promising application directions of the entire industry are new electronic materials, new battery materials, and environmental protection emissions from automobiles. These fields have high requirements on product performance and require enterprises to have strong technical strength.

(3) Resource barriers

Strontium is a kind of scarce resource, and strontium salt is mainly obtained through mining of celestite ore. China's celestite is mainly distributed in Dafengshan, Qinghai, Dazu and Tongliang, Chongqing, etc. Therefore, most strontium salt processing enterprises are built in resource-rich areas. Near the mines, you can enjoy high-quality scarce resources nearby.