The Global Market for Germanium is Forecast to Reach 218.9 Thousand Kilograms by 2024

Continued Expansion of Fiber-Optic Networks and Growth in the Solar Energy Sector to Support Demand for Germanium, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

                                                                                                

GIA launches comprehensive analysis of industry segments, trends, growth drivers, market share, size and demand forecasts on the global Germanium market. The global market for Germanium is forecast to reach 218.9thousand kilograms by 2024, buoyed by continued expansion of Fiber-Optic networks across emerging markets, growing demand for infrared optics in consumer applications, rise in solar panel installations worldwide, and emergence of new end-use applications.   

Germanium (Ge) is a hard, grayish white, brittle element classified as a metalloid. Used in in form of Germanium tetrachloride (GeCl4), Germanium dioxide (GeO2) and metallic Germanium, the element finds wide application in infrared optics, fibre-optic systems, solar cells and polymerization catalysts. Over the years, use of Germanium has grown significantly in various applications including high efficiency solar cells, LED technologies, and medicine. Fiber optics and infrared optics represent the primary growth sectors for germanium driven by growing demand and investments in broadband technologies and solar energy sector. An emerging use of germanium is in the manufacture of nanowires in the semiconductor industry. High purity germanium materials are also growing in demand in form of HPGe detector systems for homeland security applications. In near future, development of new products and technologies is expected to support the demand for germanium.

Application of germanium in the semiconductor industry is expected to improve in future amid growing research on use of the metalloid in transistor channels.  Given that transistors form a major component of integrated circuits in digital electronics, growing demand for higher computational power and speed is likely to drive the drive use of semiconductor materials such as germanium that exhibits higher mobility than silicon in the transistor channel. Researchers have also bagged success in development of germanium-based nanowire transistors, which exhibits the potential to replace FinFET in coming years

With growing solar panels market, demand for germanium is also expected to rise wherein it is used as a substrate. Germanium dioxide used in specialty glass for wide-angle camera lenses is also experiencing strong demand. Use of silicon-germanium alloy and compound crystals for medical equipment represents another opportunity market. Improvement in energy conversion performances is expected to push the market for terrestrial-based solar cells, which in turn would propel yearly consumption of germanium substrates.

The distributed fiber optics sensors market, a large end-use industry for germanium, is expected to record favorable growth over the next few years.

As stated by the new market research report on Germanium, Asia-Pacific represents the largest and fastest growing market for germanium worldwide. Demand for germanium in the region is led by surge in investments for fibre optic and mobile broadband networks and services against the backdrop of increasing video consumption and escalating demand for cloud computing services, and mobile solutions among consumers and businesses. Growth in the market is also supported by rising demand for infrared optics in consumer products and military sector. Demand for germanium substrates for solar cells is expected to gain momentum with growing energy demand and subsequent rise in solar photovoltaic (PV) installations in emerging South east Asian countries.

Major players in the market include Chemical and Technical Developments Ltd., Indium Corporation, JSC Germanium, Novotech Inc., Photonic Sense GmbH, PPM Pure Metals GmbH, Teck Resources Limited, Umicore SA, Voltaix LLC, Yunnan Chihong Zinc and Germanium Co., Ltd., and Yunnan Lincang Xinyuan Germanium Industry Co., Ltd., among others.

The research report titled “Germanium: A Global Strategic Business Report” announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc., provides a comprehensive review of the market, trends, growth drivers, issues, mergers, acquisitions, other strategic industry activities of major global and regional players. The report provides market estimates and projections for all major geographic markets including the US, Canada, Japan, Europe (France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia, Belgium and Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China and Rest of Asia-Pacific), Latin America and Rest of World. End-use segments analyzed in the report include Fiber Optic Systems, Polymerization Catalysts, Infrared Optics, Electronics/Solar Applications and Others. 

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