Analysis of the Current Situation of China’s Diamond Micro Powder Industry in 2023

With the development of high and new technologies, natural or artificial diamond powder is increasingly used in various industries. As a kind of superhard abrasive, diamond powder has been highly valued by industrialized countries for its superior grinding ability. According to statistics, as of 2022, the global diamond micro powder market size is US$584 million, and China's diamond micro powder market size is 2.207 billion yuan.

1. Overview of diamond powder industry

Diamond is commonly known as "diamond". It is a mineral composed of carbon and an allotrope of graphite. Its chemical formula is C, and it is also the original form of common diamonds. Diamond is the hardest substance naturally occurring in nature. Diamond micron powder refers to diamond single crystals that are formed into micron and sub-micron diamond powder through processes such as crushing, shaping, purification, and classification. According to different sources of raw materials, it can be divided into natural diamond powder and artificial diamond powder. According to the strength of the raw material diamond, it can be divided into high-strength diamond powder and low-strength diamond powder. According to the different diamond crystal structures, diamond powder can be divided into single crystal diamond powder and polycrystalline diamond powder.

2. Diamond powder industry chain

Diamond micropowder is the core basic material for downstream diamond tool manufacturing and hard and brittle material processing. The industry chain consists of upstream raw material suppliers, midstream manufacturers and downstream application fields. The upstream raw materials mainly include artificial diamond single crystal, and the downstream has a wide range of application fields, including diamond wire, glass panel cutting, diamond composite sheets, building material cutting and polishing, and jewelry processing.

As a new cutting technology that has emerged in recent years, diamond wire saw cutting technology has huge advantages such as fast cutting speed, high efficiency, low cost, and less environmental pollution compared to silicon carbide mortar cutting technology. Silicon rod and silicon wafer cutting are the main processes in silicon wafer production. Diamond wire saw cutting technology can be used for cutting silicon rods, squaring silicon ingots, and cutting silicon wafers. Its technical performance directly affects the quality of silicon wafers and the manufacturing cost of photovoltaic modules. , is the core technical link for photovoltaic companies to "reduce costs and increase efficiency". Since the beginning of the 21st century, the state has given strong support to the photovoltaic industry, which has led to the vigorous development of my country's solar energy industry. China's photovoltaic silicon wafer production will increase from 64.8GW in 2016 to 357GW in 2022.

3. Analysis of the development status of China’s diamond powder industry

With the development of high and new technologies, natural or artificial diamond powder is increasingly used in various industries. Before the mid-1960s, 70% of natural diamonds in the Soviet Union were crushed to produce diamond powder, diamond abrasive paste and diamond tools. Since the industrial-scale production of artificial diamond, diamond powder produced from natural diamond has gradually been replaced. It is well known that diamond has a higher grinding power than other abrasives. Therefore, as a kind of superhard abrasive and its superior grinding ability, diamond micropowder has been highly valued by industrialized countries. According to statistics, as of 2022, the global diamond micro powder market size is US$584 million, and China's diamond micro powder market size is 2.207 billion yuan.

In addition to being used as abrasive materials, diamond powder is also used as functional materials. For example, using its thermal and electrical properties. By mixing diamond powder into thermosetting resin polymers, cellulose, phenolic resin or ceramic sheets, a new material can be made that can increase thermal conductivity and reduce thermal expansion. According to statistics, China's diamond powder market size will be 2.207 billion yuan in 2022, of which the market size in the wire saw field will be 466 million yuan, the market size in the grinding field will be 545 million yuan, and the market size in other grinding machine fields will be 1.196 billion yuan. Since 2015, the average market price of diamond micropowder in my country has shown an overall downward trend, and the average market price in 2022 will be 0.39 yuan/carat.

Although the development of artificial diamond micropowder in my country did not start as early as abroad, with the advancement of industry in my country, diamond micropowder has developed relatively rapidly. Through the continuous development of domestic diamond micro powder, the production and manufacturing level of diamond micro powder in my country has been improved by leaps and bounds. The annual production volume has reached the first place in the world, and the cost performance is unmatched by other countries. In 2022, my country's diamond powder production capacity will be 12.47 billion carats, and domestic output will be 8.06 billion carats during the same period. The capacity utilization rate of my country's diamond powder industry is 64.64%.

Diamond micropowder is a strategic emerging material with the highest hardness, best thermal conductivity, best biocompatibility, and strongest corrosion resistance among industrial materials. It is widely used in photovoltaics, aerospace, electronics, automobiles, military industry, machine tools, precision Manufacturing, stone, building materials, oil and natural gas drilling, geological exploration, coal and mineral extraction and other fields of the national economy and people's livelihood. With the transformation of manufacturing to high-end, the rapid development of the clean energy field, and the advancement of biomedical technology, the market for diamond powder and products The demand is increasing and the high-end market demand is increasing.

4. Development Trend of China’s Diamond Micro Powder Industry

With the continuous advancement of national policies, the diamond powder industry has also entered a stage of rapid development. Currently, the global photovoltaic industry, IT processing industry, and wire cutting tool manufacturing industry are concentrating on China. For the processing of crystalline silicon wafers, LED lighting equipment, electronic products, high-end screens and protective screens, military equipment display screens, etc., efficient and efficient processing is required. There is a huge market demand for new precision and low-cost diamond wire cutting tools. In addition to being used in photovoltaics, consumer electronics and other fields, diamond micropowder is also used in LED sapphire, magnetic materials, ceramic materials and other fields, including 3C products, LED semiconductor lighting, new energy vehicles and other industries. In addition, the functional application market of diamond in the fields of light, electricity, sound, heat and other fields has begun to emerge, and the curtain of industrialization is about to begin. Including diamond thermal conductive materials, electrode materials, wear-resistant materials, optoelectronic devices and biomedical materials, there will also be huge market demand.

Diamond micropowder is fully used in the field of photovoltaic new energy, its penetration in the field of consumer electronics is accelerating, and it has broad application prospects in the field of semiconductors. Diamond wire saw cutting technology has the advantages of high efficiency, low loss and strong large-size cutting ability. It has been fully used in the field of photovoltaic new energy. At the same time, it has the basic conditions suitable for the cutting of semiconductor silicon materials such as integrated circuit chips. Once in the future, To achieve large-scale application, the market demand for diamond micropowder will increase significantly.