Zirconia balls (ZrO2 balls) have a wide range of applications. In the future, the R&D strength of local enterprises needs to be continuously improved.

Zirconia balls, also known as zirconia ceramic balls and zirconia grinding balls, are ceramic balls with a dense structure that have high strength, toughness, high stiffness and excellent wear resistance, high temperature resistance, and Characterized by corrosion resistance, impact resistance and electrical insulation, it can be widely used in electronics, medical, aviation, chemical industry, coatings, pesticides and other fields.

Zirconia (ZrO2) is the key raw material for the production of zirconia balls. At present, many domestic companies such as Sanxiang New Materials, Dongfang Zirconium Industry, and China Ceramic Materials have mass production capabilities. With the gradual release of production capacity of local enterprises, my country’s zirconia output will be approximately 120,000 tons in 2022. The sufficient supply of upstream raw materials has laid a good foundation for the development of the zirconia ball industry.

Zirconia balls have a wide range of applications. In the electronics field, zirconia balls are mainly used in manufacturing scenarios such as capacitors, semiconductor materials, and electronic ceramics. In the aviation field, zirconia balls are mainly used in the manufacturing scenarios of turbine blades, engine nozzles, and aircraft parts. In the medical field, zirconia balls are mainly used in artificial joints, dental restoration materials, and medical device manufacturing scenarios.

According to the “Zirconium Oxide Ball (ZrO2 Ball) Industry Market In-depth Research and Investment Prospect Forecast Analysis Report 2023-2028” released by the Industrial Research Center shows that in recent years, benefiting from the rapid development of the downstream market, my country’s demand for zirconia balls has continued to increase and its scale has continued to rise. The domestic zirconia ball market size in 2022 will be approximately 870 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.3%.

The main domestic zirconia ball manufacturers include Shandong Guoca Materials, Shenzhen Ningda New Materials, Zibo Venus New Materials, Zibo Songyang Zirconium Industry, Anhui Zhiming New Materials, Jiangsu Huasheng Fine Ceramics, Guangdong Dongfang Zirconium Industry, Suzhou Chemical There are a large number of companies including Lian Hi-tech Ceramic Materials, Sinoma Hi-tech Materials, Luoyang Bearing Research Institute, etc. However, due to technical limitations, domestic products are mostly mid- to low-end products with low technical levels. In the future, local zirconia ball companies will need to continue to improve their technical levels and increase their R&D capabilities.

Industrial analysis personnel said that the current global and Chinese high-end zirconia ball markets are still dominated by international companies , major companies include Saint-Gobain Sipu, Tosoh, Dynamech, Toray, etc. Japan’s Toray is a company with strong R&D capabilities in the global zirconia ball industry. In April 2023, the company developed the world’s first large-scale production technology for rare earth-free zirconia balls.

Rare earth-free zirconia balls are more durable, more environmentally friendly, and do not contain yttrium. They have higher application advantages in the grinding scenarios of high-performance multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) and lithium-ion battery electrode materials. In the future, Japan’s Toray is expected to firmly dominate the global high-end zirconia ball market with its strong research and development capabilities. In summary, it can be seen that R&D and innovation strength are one of the key factors that affect the company’s share of the zirconia ball market. At present, the R&D strength of my country’s zirconia ball companies is still relatively weak, and there is still much room for improvement in the future.