Top Industries purchasing Lanthanum (La)
Major Individual Company Purchasers
Caution: This content was sourced and arranged by AI and thus may be subject to errors, biases, omissions, or antiquation.
This information can provide a general sense of industry dynamics, but may be unreliable in its specifics, or as an isolated basis for investment decisions.
| Rank | Industry | Volume (MT) | % Usage | Primary Applications |
| 1 | Oil Refining (Petrochemicals) | ~19,500 | 33.0% | Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) catalysts for gasoline. |
| 2 | Battery Manufacturing (NiMH) | ~15,000 | 25.4% | Negative electrodes in Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries. |
| 3 | Optical Glass & Lens Mfg | ~7,500 | 12.7% | High-refractive index/low-dispersion camera & medical lenses. |
| 4 | Glass & Ceramics Engineering | ~5,000 | 8.5% | Alkali-resistant glass, ceramic glazes, and glass polishing. |
| 5 | Automotive (Traditional) | ~3,500 | 5.9% | Catalytic converters and hybrid battery systems. |
| 6 | Metallurgy & Alloys | ~2,500 | 4.2% | Steel/iron desulfurization; nodular cast iron production. |
| 7 | Electronics & Semiconductors | ~1,800 | 3.1% | High-k dielectrics and capacitors in microchips. |
| 8 | Phosphors & Lighting | ~1,200 | 2.0% | Green-emitting phosphors for LEDs and fluorescent lamps. |
| 9 | Medical & Pharmaceutical | ~900 | 1.5% | Lanthanum carbonate for kidney disease; MRI contrast agents. |
| 10 | Hydrogen Storage | ~650 | 1.1% | Hydrogen sponge alloys for fuel cell storage tanks. |
| 11 | Water Treatment | ~400 | 0.6% | Phosphate removal in municipal and pool water systems. |
| 12 | Defense & Aerospace | ~350 | 0.6% | Night vision optics, laser systems, and high-strength alloys. |
| 13 | Vacuum Technology | ~250 | 0.4% | Lanthanum hexaboride cathodes for electron microscopes. |
| 14 | Nuclear Energy | ~150 | 0.3% | Scintillation crystals for radiation detection and monitoring. |
| 15 | Renewable Energy (Wind) | ~100 | 0.2% | Minor additive in permanent magnet coatings/housings. |
| 16 | Precision Lab Instruments | ~80 | 0.1% | X-ray intensifying screens and analytical spectrometry. |
| 17 | Industrial Pigments | ~50 | 0.1% | Heat-stable pigments for high-performance plastics. |
| 18 | Laser Technology | ~30 | 0.05% | Doped crystals for industrial and surgical lasers. |
| 19 | Advanced Textiles | ~20 | 0.03% | UV-protective coatings and smart fabric sensors. |
| 20 | Artificial Gemstones | ~10 | 0.01% | Dopants for synthetic optical crystals. |
Major Individual Company Purchasers
- W.R. Grace & Co. / Albemarle: These are the world's leading producers of FCC catalysts. They purchase massive volumes of Lanthanum to supply oil refineries globally.
- Toyota Motor Corporation: Toyota remains the primary driver of Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery demand for its hybrid fleet (e.g., Prius), which requires large quantities of Lanthanum in the battery anode.
- BASF (Catalysts Division): A major chemical conglomerate that consumes Lanthanum for both automotive emission control systems and industrial chemical catalysts.
- Canon / Nikon / Carl Zeiss: These optical giants consume high-purity Lanthanum oxide to produce high-end lenses for photography, lithography (chip making), and medical imaging.
- Prime Focus Technologies (formerly part of Honeywell): Utilizes Lanthanum in specialized electronic components and aerospace alloys.
- Showa Denko (Resonac): A Japanese leader in the production of battery materials and rare earth alloys used in high-tech hardware.
- MP Materials: While primarily a producer, they are vertically integrating and "purchasing" their own concentrated Lanthanum for internal processing into separated oxides for the U.S. domestic supply chain.
- Johnson Matthey: A key player in the precious metals and catalysts sector, using Lanthanum for advanced emission-control technologies.
Caution: This content was sourced and arranged by AI and thus may be subject to errors, biases, omissions, or antiquation.
This information can provide a general sense of industry dynamics, but may be unreliable in its specifics, or as an isolated basis for investment decisions.