A pioneer and leader in China’s niobium market

Niobium (Nb) is a rare metal and a strategically scarce resource. It exhibits exceptional chemical stability, a high melting point, corrosion resistance, excellent electrical conductivity, and a high coefficient of thermal expansion. Thanks to these outstanding physical and chemical properties, the addition of trace amounts of niobium can significantly enhance steel strength, toughness, weldability, formability, and fatigue resistance. Niobium is widely used in modern industries, including steel, high-temperature alloys, superconducting materials, battery materials, magnetic materials, and optical materials. It is a key foundational material supporting national economic development.

CITIC Metal has served as the exclusive distributor in the Chinese mainland for CBMM, the world’s largest niobium supplier, for over 30 years, providing approximately 80% of the niobium market in the Chinese mainland. The Company has promoted continuous growth in China’s niobium consumption, and strongly supported the upgrading of Chinese steel products and the industry’s green development.

The Company is committed to promoting the widespread application of niobium in China’s steel industry and new materials sector by driving sales through technology. Since the 1980s, CITIC has established a long-term strategic partnership with CBMM, pioneering niobium technology promotion and leading the advancement of niobium-related science and technology in China. Leveraging the CITIC–CBMM Niobium Microalloying Technology Center (the “Technology Center”), the two sides have jointly launched over 200 R&D projects across the industrial chain. They have established five joint laboratories and two research centers in collaboration with institutions including the Central Iron and Steel Research Institute, China Automotive Engineering Research Institute, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Tongji University, Shanghai University, the Chongqing Innovation Center of the Beijing Institute of Technology, CNPC Tubular Goods Research Institute, and the Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory. Additionally, niobium steel scholarships have been established at four universities excelling in metallurgical engineering, including the University of Science and Technology Beijing and Northeastern University. The Technology Center also undertakes the organization of the “CITIC Niobium Steel Technological Progress Award”, one of the three major awards in China’s metallurgical industry. Thanks to the impactful collaboration between CITIC Metal and CBMM, several foreign experts from the Technology Center—Mr. Jose Alberto de Camargo, Mr. Pascoal Bordignon, Dr. Malcolm Gray and Mr. Marcos Stuart—were honored with the “Chinese Government Friendship Award”, the highest recognition granted to foreign experts, and were received by Chinese state leaders. In December 2025, the CITIC Metal Advanced Materials Research Institute was established. It will continue to uphold an integrated “industry–academia–research–application” approach to R&D, conduct research on advanced materials technologies, and consistently contribute to the high-quality development of the industry as well as to strengthening China’s technological innovation capabilities in critical materials.

In technology promotion, CITIC Metal and CBMM have, through the Technology Center’s international cooperation platform and the “industry–academia–research–application” collaboration model, significantly driven the development of high-performance metal materials in China, and facilitated the upgrading of materials used in the steel industry and its downstream sectors in collaboration with a broad range of upstream and downstream steel enterprises and research institutions. To date, China’s annual production of niobium-containing high-performance steel has exceeded 100 million tonnes, with broad applications in advanced manufacturing sectors such as aerospace, marine engineering, automotive, transportation, energy, chemicals, engineering machinery, and construction, effectively addressing the urgent demand for high-end materials driven by national economic development. Currently, China’s niobium consumption accounts for over one-third of global consumption, ranking first worldwide.

In business development, CITIC Metal primarily focuses on the steel and foundry industries, serving China’s large and medium-sized steel enterprises as a technological pioneer and market leader. Key clients include top-tier steel producers such as Baowu, Ansteel, TISCO, and Shougang. To stay close to its clients and respond promptly to their needs, CITIC Metal has strategically established warehouses across the country. In recent years, the Company has also actively expanded into emerging application areas such as new energy batteries, nanocrystalline materials, magnetic materials, aluminum alloys, and optical glass, further broadening the application scope of niobium.

In the future, adhering to the strategy of driving sales through technology, CITIC Metal will strengthen the application and promotion of niobium technology, steadily expand the capacity of China’s niobium market, and continuously deepen strategic partnerships across the industrial chain. It will fully leverage niobium’s positive role in promoting green and low-carbon development of China’s iron and steel industry and new materials sector to support the stability and security of the niobium industry chain.