Abstract:Quartz sand is a quartz particle made by crushing, screening, pickling, washing, calcination and other processes. Domestic quartz sand industry production enterprises are mainly distributed in Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Shandong, Shaanxi and other regions. In recent years, with the continuous growth of the overall demand in downstream glass and metallurgy, the output of the quartz sand industry in mainland China has shown an overall growth trend, from 77.86 million tons in 2017 to 91.23 million tons in 2021, and China's quartz sand output will reach 94.07 million tons in 2022.
1. Definitions and Classification
Quartz sand is a quartz particle made by crushing, screening, pickling, washing, calcination and other processes. The mainland is generally subdivided by the different SiO₂ and Fe₂O₃ contents of quartz sand, which are mainly divided into ordinary quartz sand, refined quartz sand and high-purity quartz sand. Among them, high-purity quartz sand has a higher SiO₂ content than ordinary quartz sand and refined quartz sand, and has excellent chemical stability, high insulation and voltage resistance and extremely low bulk expansion coefficient, which is an indispensable important raw material for high-tech industries such as electronic core devices, optical communication materials, solar cells, etc., and is the basic raw material for the production of quartz crucibles, insulating materials for electronic components, and large-scale integrated circuit packaging.
Second, industry policies
Quartz sand is an irreplaceable basic material in the development and progress of national strategic industries and pillar industries, and in recent years, the state has promulgated a series of policies to help promote the development of quartz sand industry. In January 2023, the Hainan Provincial Department of Natural Resources and Planning and the Hainan Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Notice on Comprehensively Promoting the High-quality Development of Quartz Sand Deep Processing", proposing to encourage quartz sand mining enterprises to further increase capital investment, improve the level of deep processing technology, produce quartz sand comprehensive products with higher added value, and promote the high-quality development of the quartz sand industry. In February 2024, the Henan Provincial People's Government issued the "Notice on Clarifying the Key Work Responsibilities for 2024 Proposed in the Government Work Report", proposing to focus on advanced basic materials such as superhard and key metals, key strategic materials such as new batteries and energy storage, high-performance fibers, and high-purity quartz, as well as cutting-edge new materials such as functional diamonds, high-entropy alloys, and intelligent bionics, to promote high-end products, rationalized structures, green development, and system safety.
Third, the development process
At the end of the 50s of the 20th century, the mainland began to develop the quartz sand industry, and the domestic quartz sand mainly relied on imports, and the application field was relatively single. At the end of the 80s of the 20th century, the mainland began to develop and utilize quartz sand resources on a large scale, and established a large number of quartz sand mines and quartz sand processing enterprises. At this stage, the application field of quartz sand gradually expanded, involving construction, glass, ceramics, coatings and other fields. In the 21st century, with the rapid development of China's economy and the improvement of its technological level, the quartz sand industry has begun to transform and upgrade. Some leading enterprises such as quartz shares through independent innovation and the introduction of foreign advanced technology, to achieve the large-scale production of high-purity quartz sand, and continue to promote the rapid development of the quartz sand industry. At the same time, the continuous development of some emerging application fields such as large-scale and ultra-large-scale integrated circuits, optical fibers, solar cells, lasers, aerospace, military and other industries has made the application range of quartz sand continue to expand, further promoting the development of the quartz sand industry.
Fourth, industry barriers
1. Brand barriers
Due to the high requirements of the downstream industry for the quality, reliability and stability of quartz sand products, customers often tend to cooperate with quartz sand enterprises that have been established for a long time and have a good reputation in the industry to ensure the reliability of product quality and the stability of technical requirements. Quartz sand in semiconductor applications often needs to be directly certified by high-end equipment manufacturers, posing a serious challenge for new entrants. Therefore, new entrants to the quartz sand industry have certain difficulties in market development and new customer development, and face obvious barriers to entry.
2. Technical barriers
Quartz sand is a technology-intensive industry, and quartz sand enterprises need to have their own core technology in order to develop steadily in the industry. New entrants do not have the corresponding conditions in terms of technology accumulation, and the current quartz sand industry welding technology and high-temperature blowing technology require a long period of experience accumulation. Usually quartz sand processing enterprises according to the different needs of customers for personalized customization, product diversification requirements quartz sand enterprises themselves to have sufficient technical accumulation, lack of relevant technical experience accumulation will become one of the important barriers to enter the quartz sand industry.
3. Talent barriers
Quartz sand processing has high requirements for personnel quality, and enterprises in the quartz sand industry need to build a more mature talent system in management, technology and marketing in order to succeed. At present, the quartz sand industry lacks high-quality professionals with rich practical experience, and new entrants in the quartz sand industry cannot quickly solve the problem of lack of talents. In addition, the training cycle of a mature production technician is usually long, and new enterprises entering the quartz sand industry often face the test of continuous production and operation.
Fifth, the industrial chain
1. Analysis of the industry chain
The upstream of the quartz sand industry chain mainly includes quartz stone, quartz sandstone, vein quartz ore, quartz placer ore, pegmatite ore and other ores. The middle reaches of the industrial chain are the quartz sand mining industry. The downstream of the industrial chain is mainly the application field of quartz sand, and the quartz sand with high purity will be made into quartz materials such as glass tube rods and fibers, and flow into different downstreams, and be deeply processed into quartz brackets, quartz blisters and other products, and finally used in optical fibers, light sources and other industries, while low-purity quartz sand will be used as raw materials or reinforcing materials in glass, ceramics, refractory and other building materials industries.
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