The tantalum industry is relatively small with a limited number of companies producing only a few thousand tonnes of Ta_2O_s every year. Tantalum's unique set of properties, however, make it critical in many of the applications in which it is used. Tantalum ore is mined and processed into concentrate, which is then used to produce a range of tantalum chemicals or refined into metal for use in niche metal products or alloys. Its use is often limited, because of its high cost, to high-performance applications.
Tantalum has the ability to store a large electrical charge, even in a small volume of material, making it well-suited for use in electronics such as capacitors. The electronics industry is about to see booming growth worldwide with the emergence of electric vehicles and the increasing electrification of our homes and vehicles. Tantalum also has high resistance to corrosion, good temperature resistance, inertness, toughness, reliability and robustness.
This reliance on tantalum and the low threat from substitute materials means that the tantalum market is not often beholden to changes in price, except in times of extreme price rise (as was seen in 2012). Tantalum consumers are much more concerned with availability of supply. There is an ongoing trend of consolidation in the tantalum industry, which has brought control of supply increasingly into the hands of a few large players and reduced the steps between supply and consumption. In 2012, tantalum miner/processor Global Advanced Materials (GAM) acquired Cabot's Supermetals business. In July 2018, H.C. Starck completed the sale of its Tantalum and Niobium division (H.C. Starck Tantalum and Niobium GmbH) to JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation of Japan.

1. Executive summary 1

2. Tantalum flowchart 11

3. World supply 12

4. World consumption of tantalum 24

5. International trade 29

6. Prices 40

7. Outlook for tantalum 45

8. Background 54

9. Country profiles 65

10. End uses for tantalum 111

11. Company profiles 159

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