Existing condition analysis of Mercury in China
Besides being used for chloric alkali, chemical catalyst, electric appratuses, batteries, chemical reagents, electric appliances, military industry and pharmaceutical industry, China’s mercury is primarily exported to earn foreign exchange. Its accumulative mercury exports in 1950~1990 reached 26,151 tons, making up 62.13% of the country’s total mercury production in the same period. The 1960s were a period with the maximum mercury exports and the historically highest mercury production for China. During this time the mercury production of the Guizhou, Danzhai and Xinhuang mercury mines hit a record high. In the 1960s, China exported 8,468 tons of mercury, which constituted 32.4% of the country’s total exports in the period 1950~1990. In particular, the mercury products of the several large and medium-sized enterprises are high in quality, famous on the international market and sell well abroad. For instance, the mercury products made by the Wuchuan mercury plant have been incorporated into the State’s reserves and exports and are in great demand in India, Pakistan and Thailand and even exported far to the USA and France; its synthetic cinnabar has been exported to Japan and Southeast Asia. A series of products made by the Guizhou mine, such as mercury, cinnabar, mercury chloride, mercury chloride catalyst and titanium amalgam have a ready market in more than 40 countries or regions such as Europe, the USA and Japan and, particularly, played an important role in repaying foreign debts for China in the 1960s.
During the last 20-odd years, China’s imports and exports of mercury products have greatly changed. The exports averaged about 400 tons in the 1970s, soared to 950 tons in 1980~1982 because of the high price of mercury on the international market, and exceeded 1,000 tons in three consecutive years (1986~1988). In the year 1987, the mercury exports were 1,905 tons, forming 166.44% of the year’s production. Since 1988, however, the mercury price on the international market has drastically declined. For instance, the mercury price on the European market averaged US $ 322.4/flask in 1983 but dropped to US $ 287.32/flask in 1988, US $ 190/flask in 1993 and further to US $ 90/flask in 1994. Consequently China’s mercury exports declined. In 1991, China cut its exports to 63 tons (the lowest of the recent 30 years or so) and imported 200 tons. In 1992, it increased its imports to 555.6 tons and decreased its exports to only 52.5 tons, turning it from a traditional mercury exporter to an importer. This is caused by two factors. First, China imported and exported mercury in response to the changes of international mercury market; second, the mercury ores mined in recent years by China are low in grade and high in production cost and some of the mercury products could not meet its domestic demand.As the professional manufacturer of complete sets of mining machinery, such as jaw crusher,cement production line, Henan Hongxing is always doing the best in products and service.
Trends
Mercury has a wide range of applications. However, all soluble mercury compounds and vapor are highly toxic. At present, many countries are taking strict measures to strengthen the recycling of mercury, control its circulation and even cancel or restrict its use, thus leading to a decline in mercury demand. For example, the world’s mercury consumption had been as high as 281,000 flasks in the period from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, but has all along decreased since the 1980s (to 203,000 flasks in 1989 and to only 100,000 flasks in 1993). It is forecast that the present mercury consumption of the world probably stands at about 100,000 flasks.
Based on the international market conditions and the present state of consumption of the country, China’s domestic mercury consumption is predicted at 350~400 tons, slightly higher than that in the early 1980s (320 tons in the year 1983). This, plus about 100 tons of the forecast exports, makes a total of about 500 tons that is the aggregate demand in the forthcoming years. Thus the present-day production is enough to meet the country’s needs.
China’s mercury resources are abundant and geographically concentrated. They are characterized by comparatively more single-mercury ore deposits, better mining conditions and easily mined and dressed ores, and require only a simple technological flowsheet in ore treatment. These are all favorable for the development of the country’s mercury industry. With respect to the degree of mineral resources security, the country now has a total retained mercury ore reserve of 81,200 tons, of which 20,200 tons are of industrial reserve. If the annual mercury production is set at 500 tons as suggested by concerned departments, the country’s present mercury ore reserve available for mining could secure the production at least in 15 years. Now the problem is whether the existing mines in China can continuously supply enough ores for the production. Most of them are old mines constructed or expanded in the 1950s~1960s. Some have been exhausted, some closed, still some stopped operation due to low ore grade or high mining cost. This, coupled with the sluggish mercury sales on both the international and domestic markets, has caused losses to most of the mercury-producing enterprises and rendered them unable to expand the pitheads or construct new mines though they have mercury resources. Therefore, people of the mercury industry hold that under the conditions of a market economy it is imperative to strengthen the development of intensively processed mercury products, open more export channels and develop a diversified economy. This is the orientation for future development of China’s mercury industry.
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