Calcium Prices – Historical Graph
- The average price in the past 3 days is
- The average price in the past 7 days is
- The average price in the past 30 days is
- The average price in the past 365 days is
Popular questions about calcium prices:
Calcium Prices Explained
Calcium prices posted bearish trends in the market as multi-element product value fell. The weakening calcium silicon prices added negative sentiments to the commodity. On the supply side, calcium metal production slowed due to the decline of raw aluminum ingot prices. However, continuous innovation in the battery industry will potentially revive calcium’s downward market.
Why are calcium prices fluctuating?
1. Global Economic Conditions
The slowing global macroeconomic conditions dominate the market. This represents a downside risk to the metals and mining sector as many commodity prices slide and equity market support weakens.
These conditions led to narrowing margins for producers and tighter financing conditions for exploration. For instance, China’s tight monetary policies limited manufacturers in buying metals, affecting calcium production and consumption.
2. Energy Transition
The global efforts to decarbonize drive the rollout of technologies which increases the demand for raw materials. This brings about near-term challenges in the commodities sector. For many commodities (including calcium metal), the increasing consumption will outstrip the mining industry’s ability to ramp up supply.
For example, calcium is important in producing hydrogen (one example of green energy transition) through thermochemical water splitting. Hydrogen is a clean fuel used to generate electricity or power vehicles. Overall, this utilization contributes to metal deficits that lead to calcium price increases.
3. Industry Demands
The demand for calcium metal from its top industry consumers will continue to grow. For instance, the data processing and power generation industries which rely heavily on copper and aluminum expect significant growth in 2024 and beyond.
Similarly, the use of calcium carbide (CaC2) for the desulfurization of iron and as a fuel in steelmaking drives the calcium acetylide market growth in Europe. As these industries continue to grow, so does the demand for calcium metal and prices.
4. Innovation
Researchers developed a prototype calcium (Ca) metal rechargeable battery capable of 500 cycles of repeated charge-discharge. This innovation will provide efficient and low-cost power sources for solar and automotive industries.
Also, this translates to the commodity’s market expansion which will drive demand for rechargeable batteries.
Which variables impact the price of calcium?
- Global Economic Conditions
- Energy Transition
- Industry Demands
- Supply Performance
- Geopolitics
- Currency Rates
Where does calcium come from?
Calcium is the fifth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and it is found in different compounds, like calcium carbonate (the main component of limestone, marble, and chalk). Other calcium compounds include gypsum (calcium sulfate dihydrate) and fluorite (calcium fluoride). Calcium metal production is a complex process because this commodity isn’t found in its pure metallic form. Generally, calcium metal has 2 production methods:
1. Calcium Chloride Electrolysis
- Calcium chloride preparation – Limestone or calcium carbonate is turned into calcium oxide or quicklime through calcination. Quicklime is mixed with hydrochloric acid to produce calcium chloride.
- Electrolysis – Molten calcium chloride undergoes electrolysis in a specialized cell. This technique produces calcium metal by passing a direct electric current through the molten salt, reducing calcium ions into the cathode.
- Purification – The produced calcium metal is purified through vacuum distillation to remove impurities and pass the standard manufacturing process.
2. Aluminum Reduction
- Reduction – Calcium oxide is reduced with aluminum in a high-temperature process. This method yields calcium metal and alumina (aluminum oxide).
- Vacuum distillation – This technique is similar to the electrolysis method. The produced calcium metal is refined through vacuum distillation to achieve high purity.
After these manufacturing processes, calcium metal is cast into ingots or any desired shapes (the shapes vary according to industry demands). As a precaution, the storage facility temperature of this metal should be ‘chemically inactive’ to prevent fire or explosion because this commodity is a highly reactive element.
What are the uses of calcium?
Despite its high reactivity and expensive storage costs, calcium finds extensive application in many industries, particularly in the manufacturing of batteries.
1. Deoxidation and Desulfurization – Calcium’s capacity to remove oxygen and sulfur impurities from molten metals is important in the steel industry as it enhances the metal’s quality and properties.
2. Alloying Agent – Calcium is added to certain alloys to improve their characteristics. For example, it is used in aluminum alloys to refine grain structure and enhance mechanical properties.
3. Calcium Carbide Production – When combined with carbon in an electric arc furnace, it produces calcium carbide. This chemical is important in industrial processes, like generating acetylene gas, and as an artificial fruit ripening agent.
4. Reducing Agent – Thorium and uranium productions use calcium to speed the reaction process of reducing metal oxides to their pure metal form.
5. Getter – Calcium acts as a getter substance that removes unwanted gasses from a sealed system. In specialized lighting applications, manufacturers use calcium to maintain a desired atmosphere within the lamp.
6. Electronics – Calcium oxide is essential in making electronic ceramics, like capacitors, transistors, and insulators. These ceramics are the foundation of electrical and mechanical devices.
What is the future price of calcium?
The growing demand from the construction engineering, industrial, and medicine sectors steers calcium prices across trading platforms. Also, the slow but steady calcium market in APAC end-user industries and its rising utilization in battery manufacturing provide profitable market expansion in the coming years.
For instance, the tight competition between EV companies and the concentrated location of its raw materials made automotive research and development sources affordable and uncompromising materials. A research group at Tohoku University, Japan developed a prototype calcium metal rechargeable battery capable of 500 cycles of repeated charge-discharge.
Compared to lithium batteries, calcium takes the crown when it comes to manufacturing costs and abundance. Additionally, this metal accelerates ion transport and diffusion in electrolytes and cathode materials, an advantage over lithium, magnesium, and zinc alternatives.
Overall, this technological innovation will propel its market in the coming years and even the unstable source materials in the battery industry. The rough price estimate of calcium metal in 2030 will be between $10 and $15 per kilogram, with a market size growing at a CAGR of 3.9% in 2029.