Asian Metal visits indium enterprises in Hunan

From October 11 to 13, 2017, Asian Metal president assistant Zhao Hao and indium market analyst Shelly Liu visited a number of indium enterprises in Hunan province and held talks with their senior managers about the indium market. Those companies included: Hunan Huitong High-tech Energy Storing Materials Group Co., Ltd., Changsha Santech Materials Co., Ltd., Changsha Wante New Materials Co., Ltd., Changsha Enam Optoelectronic Material Co., Ltd., Zhuzhou Yichang Technology Development Co., Ltd., Zhuzhou Sinotech Materials Co., Ltd., Zhuzhou Smelter Imp. & Exp. Co., Ltd., Zhuzhou Keneng New Materials Co., Ltd., Zhuzhou Hongyilong Industry Co., Ltd., Zhuzhou Hemao Trading Co., Ltd., Xiangtan Hetai Metallic Materials Co., Ltd., Changsha Bida Metallic Materials Co., Ltd., Zhuzhou Longcheng Industry & Trading Co., ltd., and Xiangtan Dingxin New Materials Co., Ltd.

The companies all thank highly of information provided by Asian Metal, and the Asian Metal team promised to continue providing complete, objective and timely market information to the customers. The team also revealed that Asian Metal plans to hold the 11th International In-Ge-Ga Forum on March 22-23.

In the morning of October 11, the AM team visited Hunan Huitong High-tech Energy Storing Materials Group Co., Ltd. and met with its sales director Ms. Xie Liang. Ms. Xie revealed that at present her company mainly focused upon production of manganese sulfate and indium oxide; their electrolyzers for indium refining were not in operation for the time being and sales on refined indium were similarly inactive; and the company was gradually switching its main business into the battery industry.

The AM representatives then visited Changsha Santech Materials Co., Ltd. and met with its general manager Mr. Tan Kai. He revealed that his company was mainly engaged in businesses related to metals including indium, bismuth, germanium, gallium, selenium and tellurium as well as low-temperature alloy products; and as their production and research did not produce pollutants, their operation was rarely affected by environmental inspections.

In the afternoon, AM visited Changsha Wante New Materials Co., Ltd. and held talks with its vice general manager Mr. Xie Hongbo and sales manager Mr. Li Zhibin. Mr. Xie disclosed that, though his company had not participated in the indium industry for long, it successfully sold over 20t of the material via processing trade in the latter half of 2016 and still maintained vigorous growth in 2017; on outlook, the company planned to strengthen its participation in the indium market.

In the following visit to Changsha Enam Optoelectronic Material Co., Ltd., the AM team held talks with its technical vice director Mr. Liu Yongcheng and sales manager Mr. Wang Zhijie, and were showed around to have a close look at its production lines. Mr. Liu disclosed that his company, with a long history and mature technique in target material production, boasted a relatively large market share; while at the same time they also sold products such as indium oxide powder.

In the morning of October 12, AM visited Zhuzhou Yichang Technology Development Co., Ltd. and held talks with its president Mr. Zhang Changming, standing general manager Ms. Yu Hua and procurement manager Zou Zhongqi. Mr. Zhang disclosed that their indium production base was located in Jiangxi province; they also produced zinc sulfate and therefore had sufficient supply of raw material for indium ingot production; as environmental inspections had led to tight supply of raw materials in the market, they felt optimistic about future prices for indium ingot. The AM team was invited to lunch together with the company’s senior management staff.

In the afternoon, AM went on visiting Zhuzhou Sinotech Materials Co., Ltd. and were warmly greeted by its general manager Mr. Liu Ziqi and his assistant Mr. Li Jun. Mr. Li Jun showed them around the company. Other visitors included Mr. Tan Yi, sales manager of Changsha Bida Metallic Materials Co., Ltd.; Mr. Xie Hongbo, vice general manager of Changsha Wante New Materials Co., Ltd.; Ms. Huang Yan, procurement manager of Zhuzhou Yichang Technology Development Co., Ltd.; and Mr. Tan Guiyuan, production manager of Zhuzhou Hongyilong Industry Co., Ltd.

Accompanied by Ms. Huang Yan, the AM team visited Zhuzhou Smelter Imp. & Exp. Co., Ltd. and held talks with its vice general manager Mr. Xu Xiangchun and manager Mr. Wu Daojie. Both sides communicated on consumption of indium ingot, and Mr. Xu disclosed that regarding their business of indium ingot they mainly focused upon executing long-term export orders recently.

On October 13, the AM team visited Zhuzhou Keneng New Materials Co., Ltd. and held talks with its president and general manager Mr. Zhao Kefeng, sales director Ms. Liu Yan, products director Ms. Yin Yuhua, and vice manager Mr. Ma Yao. Both sides communicated on the current situation and future prices in the indium market.

Afterwards, the AM team went on visiting Zhuzhou Hongyilong Industry Co., Ltd. and communicated with its market director Mr. Tan Jianlin, administrative director Ms. Yan Huirong, sales manager Ms. Huang Zhonghua and production manager Mr. Tan Guiyuan. Mr. Tan Jianlin expressed strong interest in the export business of indium ingot and claimed that they highly valued developing and maintaining partnership with downstream customers.

In the afternoon, the AM team moved to Xiangtan city and visited Zhuzhou Hemao Trading Co., Ltd. and Xiangtan Hetai Metallic Materials Co., Ltd. Accompanied by Mr. Wang Zhuo, general manager of Hetai Metallic Materials, the AM team visited production workshops of the two companies. According to Mr. Wang Zhuo, the Chinese indium ingot market remained sluggish during the period from 2017 May to July and producers of crude ingot were inactive in maintaining high operating rates; but he felt optimistic about indium ingot prices after October.