Vanadium Alloy Market: Overview
Vanadium is a silvery-grey metal produced in four countries: Brazil, South Africa, China, and Russia. The metal can be obtained by separating it from about 65 minerals such as patronite, roscoelite, carnotite, vanadinite, and mottramite. It can also be obtained from coal and petroleum.
Vanadium possesses good structural strength. It is also ductile and harder than most metals, including steel. It is also resistant to corrosion.
The chemical properties of vanadium act as major drivers of the vanadium alloy market. However, the market also has a few restraints. Difficulty in extraction of vanadium and its availability in a limited number of countries are hampering the vanadium alloy market.
Vanadium Alloy Market: Key Segments
The global vanadium alloy market can be segmented based on type, end-user industry, and region. Based on type, the vanadium alloy market can be divided into ferrovanadium, vanadium titanium, vanadium pentoxide, and others. Ferrovanadium is an alloy of vanadium and iron. Most of vanadium is used to manufacture ferrovanadium, which is further employed in the manufacture of steel.
Ferrovanadium strengthens steel, so that the latter can be used in wide range of applications such as automobiles and pipelines. Another important vanadium alloy is vanadium titanium. This alloy is stronger than commercially pure titanium, while having the same thermal properties and stiffness as titanium.
Its ability to withstand extreme temperatures makes it an important component in industries such as aerospace. Vanadium oxidizes at around 660°C to become vanadium pentoxide. It does not absorb neutrons easily; hence, it is employed in nuclear power and energy storage batteries. Other vanadium alloys include chromium-based vanadium alloys.
Based on end-user industry, the vanadium alloy market can be segregated into transport, chemicals, energy, and others. Vanadium alloy is used in automotives, ships, and aircraft in the transport segment to reduce their weight and increase efficiency, while simultaneously making them stronger. Corrosion-resistant properties of vanadium alloy make it ideal for usage in tubes and pipes to carry chemicals.
However, key usage of vanadium alloy is likely to be in the energy industry. It can be employed in a wide range of environment-friendly power generation and storage technologies, viz. nuclear power generation and vanadium redox flow batteries, respectively. Concerns regarding global warming and climate change have increased over the last few years. Governments are promoting the use of environment-friendly energy technologies.
Vanadium redox flow battery is one such technology. Vanadium alloy is used for large scale energy storage applications. Certain countries such as Japan have stared adopting vanadium-based energy storage technologies on a large scale.
Vanadium Alloy Market: Regional Outlook
Based on region, the vanadium alloy market can be classified into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Developed countries such as the U.S., U.K., Japan, and Germany have been the first countries to adopt vanadium alloy based applications. However, developing countries such as India, China, and Brazil have realized the importance of vanadium alloy and are promoting its usage.
Vanadium Alloy Market: Key Players
Key players operating in the global vanadium alloy market include Tremond Metals Corp., Core Metals Group, Bushveld Minerals, Bear Metallurgical Company, and Gulf Chemical and Metallurgical Corporation.
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