Development of the niobium industry

Niobium was first used in the manufacture of incandescent lamps at the beginning of the 20th century. This application was soon replaced by tungsten, which has a higher melting point and is better suited to the manufacture of incandescent lamps. the discovery of niobium's ability to increase the strength of steel in the 1920s gave impetus to the use of niobium in the iron and steel industry. Now, the steel field is still the main application of niobium. 1940s, tantalum-niobium high-temperature alloy applications have been developed. 1950s, the emergence of extraction separation of tantalum and niobium technology for the development of the niobium industry laid the foundation for the development of the niobium industry. 1961, the U.S. physicist Eugene Kunzler and colleagues in the Bell Laboratory found that niobium-tin alloys can be in the case of strong electric current and the presence of a strong magnetic field This discovery promoted the application of niobium in the field of electrical energy and electromagnetism.
World niobium consumption reached 1,000 to 1,200 tons in the late 1970s and increased to 1,600 to 1,800 tons by the late 1980s. According to data released by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2014, in 2013, global niobium production was about 51,000 tons, and production is relatively concentrated, with niobium production in Brazil and Canada alone accounting for about 98% of the world's total niobium production. North America, Europe for the main consumption of niobium, China is also a large consumer of niobium, China's niobium consumption in 2010 accounted for a quarter of the total global consumption. At present, the niobium industry in the world has developed to a very high level in terms of beneficiation, smelting and processing, as well as in terms of production scale, output, application areas and consumption. Various niobium products are also widely used in steel, superconducting materials, electronics, medical and other industries, of which niobium consumption in the steel field is the largest, accounting for about 90% of the global total consumption of niobium.