A germanium wafer boasts a myriad of industrial applications, including optical fiber, night vision devices, and even solar cell technology. Due to its many uses and unique properties, the demand for germanium all around the globe has been on the rise.
Here are some interesting statistics about this material’s global market and how germanium wafers will impact us in the future.
The biggest producer of the material is China, responsible for around 60% of total production. After that, the market is divided into Canada, Finland, Russia, and the United States.
Besides being a center for production, the Asia-Pacific region is also the most demanding region for germanium. Due to germanium’s properties, countries with a leading electronic industry like China, Japan, South Korea, and India have a significant demand for it.
The germanium market is divided into Fiber and IR Optics, Electronics and Solar Power, Plumer, and Others based on the end-user applications.
Fiber and IR Optics make up 54% of the global market in 2023, followed by Electronics and Solar, with 25%.
A growing market for germanium is healthcare. Besides being useful in imaging, in recent years, germanium has helped in immune activation and enhancement, oxygen enrichment, analgesia, and heavy metal detoxification.
Because of that, there are high hopes for investigations regarding the use of germanium to fight AIDS.
According to Trading Economics, the price of germanium has increased by 250 CNY/Kg since the beginning of 2024. That is, 2.66%.
Germanium has become a valuable material to many industries across the globe. Although there’re a lot of expectations for this market, growing tensions contribute to building uncertainty on what’s to come for this useful semiconductor.
If you’d like to ensure your provision of germanium wafers, reach out!
