On 8 May, Asian Metal hosted the World Indium & Germanium Forum in Kunming, Yunnan, China. The conference was sponsored by Yunnan Lincang Xinyuan Germanium Industry Co., Ltd. Participants and experts from the indium and germanium industry made several comprehensive presentations during the forum, which are outlined in the following account of the event.
At 9am in the morning, Tony Zhao, the general manager of Yunnan Lincang Xinyuan Germanium Industry Co., Ltd. announced the opening of the 8th world Indium & Germanium Forum. Mr. Zhao gave a brief overview of the germanium market in 2014 and also delivered his predictions for the second half of 2015.
Afterwards, Changming Zhang, the president of Jiangxi Xinhuaneng Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd, made a speech entitled “Indium market review and the impact of removing export tax”. Mr. Zhang also gave his remarks on the indium market over the last year and explained the advantages and disadvantages of the removal of export tax in China, which stirred an in-depth discussion among the attendees.
After the coffee break, the Vice Director of Shanghai Center for Photovoltaics gave a talk about the industrialization of CIGS thin film solar cells in China and prospects for the market. Mr. Yang pointed out that with the development of clean energy, copper indium gallium selenium thin film solar cells will have widespread applications and good prospects. He also highlighted that the indium material plays a crucial part in the cells.
Next, Christian Hell, technical director of Photonic Sense GmbH, gave a speech about “Crystal Growth: Ancient and recent technological developments”. During the speech, Mr. Hell offered a brief introduction to seven methods of germanium crystal growth.
At two in the afternoon, the conference continued with Tieyan Wang, deputy general manager of Beijing Guojinghui Infrared Optical Science & Technology Co., Ltd, who gave a talk about “The new development of optical fiber and the applications of germanium metal”. She stated that both the high levels of optical fiber demand and China's implementation of policies directed at improving interconnectivity are positive factors promoting the development of the optical communications industry. Over the past decade, germanium usage in the field of optical fiber communication has accounted for 60% of all products.
Next, Zhigang Wang, deputy general manager of Xilingol Mengdong Germanium Technology Co., Ltd gave a brief introduction to Mengdong Germanium and the germanium resources located in Inner Mongolia. China’s germanium resources are mainly distributed in Yunnan and Inner Mongolia, and the output of Mengdong Germanium will change the supply pattern scenario in China.
After the coffee break, Dr. Lei Wang from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry gave a speech on “Additive Manufacturing Investigation of Indium-based Alloys”. 3D printing has been a hot topic in recent years, and based around the low melting point of metal indium, Dr. Wang has developed an indium gallium alloy and tin indium gallium alloy printing technology. In the future, these printing methods are likely to be used in flexible circuit boards, metal tags and intelligent households.
Next, Maozhong Li, deputy general manger of Yunnan KIRO-CH Photonics Co., Ltd made a speech on the infrared optical industrial chain, as well as developing trends in the sector. He estimates that demand for germanium in the infrared optical field is set to increase by more than 25% over last year’s levels. Infrared optical lenses are widely used in military and civilian fields, from food safety, medical inspections and construction inspections, to industrial automation, intelligent machine vision and military infrared.
Last but not least, Byungmoo Kim, deputy purchasing general manager at Samsung Corning Advanced Glass delivered an introduction to the flat panel display and ITO industry in South Korea. The biggest consumers of ITO target materials are Samsung and LG with 40% of the materials used in TV screens, 20% in mobile phones, 20% in tablets, and 20% in monitors.
The appreciation dinner, which was sponsored by Yunnan Lincang Xinyuan Germanium Industry Co., Ltd., started at 6:30pm and the vice manager of the company, Guanghui Xiang,, made a dinner speech. Everyone present thoroughly enjoyed themselves and the atmosphere was extremely pleasant.
Asian Metal would like to thank all of the industry insiders and companies that participated and supported the meeting. We will continue to provide valuable market information on metals, as well as platforms for business communication, with continued enthusiasm and diligent professionalism.
