To meet the growing demand for gallium in LED manufacturing in North-East Asia, specialty metal and chemical products firm 5N Plus Inc of Montreal, Quebec, Canada is to invest in a new gallium chemicals facility to be located in South Korea, one of the world's fastest-growing regions for electronics manufacturing.
5N Plus provides specialty purified metals such as bismuth, gallium, germanium, indium, antimony, cadmium, selenium and tellurium, and also produces related II-VI semiconducting compounds such as cadmium telluride (CdTe), cadmium sulphide (CdS) and indium antimonide (InSb) as precursors for the growth of crystals for solar, LED and eco-friendly materials applications.
5N Plus has existing gallium chemicals manufacturing facilities in Madison, WI, USA and Wellingborough, UK. The new plant will be located within an industrial park nearby a number of electronic manufacturing facilities, and should be operational by the end of 2013. 5N Plus has entered into an agreement with a local chemical distributor for the supply of operating services and logistics for the new facility.
North-East Asia represents the majority of the world's LED production, and more than 70% of electronic tablet display supply. The LED market is expected to grow at a 15-20% annually in the near to medium term, with growth driven mainly by increasing market penetration for lighting applications.
High-purity gallium metal and chemicals are also essential for manufacturing products such as gallium arsenide (GaAs) electronic components for 3/4G wireless applications, indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) transparent semiconductor for next-generation displays, copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film solar panels, and gallium antimonide (GaSb) wafers for infrared (IR) detection and imagery systems.
As a group, these applications are expected to drive significant growth in gallium demand in the coming years. 5N Plus adds that its new investment in South Korea should serve as a platform in future for the manufacture of other high-purity materials for the Asian market.
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