Factbox – Where are the strategic materials germanium and gallium produced?

by Sylvia Quarles
July 4, 2023
in Finance



BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Monday it would impose export restrictions on certain gallium and germanium products from Aug. 1 to protect national security interests.

Here are some details about Gallium and Germanium

Where is germanium found?

Germanium ores are rare and most germanium is produced as a by-product of zinc production and from coal fly ash.

According to the European Union Critical Raw Materials Alliance (CRMA), China produces about 60% of the world’s germanium, with the rest coming from Canada, Finland, Russia and the United States.

According to Chinese customs, China exported 43.7 tons of raw and wrought germanium last year.

what about gallium?

Gallium is found in small amounts in zinc ores and bauxite, and gallium metal is produced when bauxite is processed to make aluminum. According to CRMA, about 80% of the production takes place in China.

Gallium is used to make gallium arsenide for use in electronics. CRMA says that only a few companies – one in Europe and the rest in Japan and China – can make it at the required precision.

According to Chinese customs, China will export 94 tons of gallium in 2022, up 25% from last year.

What are they used for?

According to the American company Wafer World, semiconductor wafers made from gallium arsenide instead of silicon can operate at high frequencies and are heat resistant.

Wafer World says they produce less noise than silicon devices, especially at high operating frequencies, which makes them useful in radar and radio communications equipment, satellites and LEDs.

Germanium is mainly used in fiber optics and plastics as well as in infrared radiation. The metal and its oxides are used in night-vision devices as well as in military applications such as satellite imagery sensors.

How much do they cost?

The final price of gallium at 99.99% purity in China was quoted at 1,775 yuan ($245) per kg on Monday, up 5.97% from the previous session and the highest since May 16, according to Shanghai Metal Exchange data on Refinitiv Eikon. Get to know from


China’s germanium ingot price was last seen at 9,150 yuan ($1,264) per kg on Monday, Shanghai Metal Exchange data on Refinitiv Eikon showed.

($1 = 7.2374 yuan)

(Reporting by Dominic Patten, Mai Nguyen and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Tom Hogg)