NanoMarkets

Published September 2011

© NanoMarkets, LC

NanoMarkets, LC PO Box 3840 Glen Allen, VA 23058 Tel: 804-360-2967

Web: www.nanomarkets.net

Silver Flake and Powder Market to Grow Despite High Silver Prices A NanoMarkets White Paper

www.nanomarkets.net

NanoMarkets

NanoMarkets, LC | PO Box 3840 | Glen Allen, VA 23058 | TEL: 804-360-2967 | FAX: 804-360-7259

www.nanomarkets.net

Page | 2

Entire contents copyright NanoMarkets, LC. The information contained in this report is based on the best information available to us, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. NanoMarkets, LC and its author(s) shall not stand liable for possible errors of fact or judgment. The information in this report is for the exclusive use of representative purchasing companies and may be used only by personnel at the purchasing site per sales agreement terms. Reproduction in whole or in any part is prohibited, except with the express written permission of NanoMarkets, LC.

NanoMarkets

NanoMarkets, LC | PO Box 3840 | Glen Allen, VA 23058 | TEL: 804-360-2967 | FAX: 804-360-7259

www.nanomarkets.net

Page | 3

Silver Flake and Powder Market to Grow Despite High Silver

Prices

Although the market for silver powder and flake products had been buffeted by rising silver prices,

opportunities do exist for suppliers able to offer customized high quality powders and flakes, value-

added nanosilvers, and lower-cost yet high-performance silver-coated hybrid materials. In a newly

released report, NanoMarkets, a leading provider of market research and analysis of the opportunities

in advanced materials and emerging energy and electronics markets, estimates the value of the silver

powder and flake market to be $8.7 billion in 2011 and expects it will increase to $16.35 billion by

2018.

NanoMarkets says that silver powders and flakes mainly find use in conductive pastes and adhesives

for electronics applications, photovoltaics (PV), brazing and soldering for HVAC/R, industrial tooling,

and automotive applications, and antibacterial/biocidal applications. While electronics and

photovoltaics account for the largest consumption of silver powders and flakes, the highest growth

rates will be seen for hybrid silver-coated materials and silver nanopowders for antibacterial uses.

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Year

Summary: Value of Silver Materials by Application 2011-2018 ($ Millions)

Nanosilver in Antimicrobial Applications

Silver Brazing and Cold Silver Solder Fillers

Flakes & Powders for Conductive Adhesives

Nanosilver in Inks, Pastes, and Adhesives

Flakes & Powders for PV Inks

Flakes & Powders for Silver Inks and Pastes (Excluding PV)

© NanoMarkets, LC

NanoMarkets

NanoMarkets, LC | PO Box 3840 | Glen Allen, VA 23058 | TEL: 804-360-2967 | FAX: 804-360-7259

www.nanomarkets.net

Page | 4

Impact of High Silver Prices

Even though silver consumption declined in 2009 as a result of the global recession, silver prices still

increased climbed due to precious metal speculation, global currency debasement and a loss of faith in

sovereign currencies. Lingering concerns over the monetary health of the U.S. and European

economies continues to lead to persistent investment offtake of precious metals. Unfortunately for

industrial users of silver, this trend is expected to continue, with average prices predicted by

NanoMarkets to rise by 6% annually from $35 per Troy ounce in 2011.

The continued high and moderately growing silver prices will drive further efforts to minimize its use

through more efficient per-unit use, better scrap recycling, etc. As a result, NanoMarkets expects the

market for hybrid silver-coated materials to nearly triple in size, and the market for nanosilver to

increase by about seven-fold.

Silver powder and flake suppliers are also looking to at least partially mitigate rising silver costs and

thus increase profit margins through product differentiation on a quality basis. NanoMarkets believes

that many firms will not only remain competitive but create growth opportunities by developing

downstream products that offer added value to their customers. In the brazing industry, this means

offering not only powders and pastes, but also preforms and specialty brazing services. In the

traditional powders and flakes market, value-added constitutes offering specialty products that are

designed with particular end uses in mind.

Opportunities in Electronics

Silver powders and flakes are converted to conductive pastes and adhesives for use in traditional

electronics or new/novel printable electronics end-uses.

Most traditional thick-film screen-printed silver applications are mature, such as membrane switches,

keyboards, capacitors and the like, and employ large quantities of silver powders and flakes. In many

of these applications, like membrane switches, large features are involved, so replacement of standard

inks and pastes seems improbable.

There are, however, the beginnings of a very gradual shift toward use of other types of inks and

printing methods (high-speed flexo and gravure) as a way to reduce costs in some applications.

Sophisticated geometries and finer flakes and powders will be required for inks used in high-speed

printing compared to screen-printing, presenting opportunities for silver powder and flake suppliers.

The high conductivity of silver in ink form, which is important for maximizing performance, combined

with the lower level of cost sensitivity of the sensor market, makes this end-use another attractive

sector for silver flakes and powders. Silver may also prove to be a key enabling technology for OLED

lighting, and while this market currently is very small.

NanoMarkets

NanoMarkets, LC | PO Box 3840 | Glen Allen, VA 23058 | TEL: 804-360-2967 | FAX: 804-360-7259

www.nanomarkets.net

Page | 5

Furthermore, increasing global demand for consumer electronics will lead to healthy growth rates in

the silver ink and paste market. Although the trend toward miniaturization of many consumer

electronic products is reducing the average per-unit amount of silver consumption in conductive

adhesives applications, there is substantial overall growth in volume demand driven by the continued

industrialization and urbanization of the developing world.

Photovoltaics: Slowing but Still Attractive

The photovoltaics (PV) sector has been rapidly growing for several years, both overall and in its

consumption of silver. It is now about one-third the size of the traditional thick-film silver inks/pastes

market, and high oil prices continue to drive interest in PV panels as “greener” energy alternatives.

The global recession, however, has reduced the political will to convert from traditional energy sources

to PV and it is unlikely that most of the subsidies for solar will survive major cuts in the U.S. federal

budget. Furthermore, long-term growth in the PV sector will be based on building-integrated PV

(BIPV), which consumes less silver.

Despite these apparent negatives, Nanomarkets believes that important opportunities remain for

silver in the PV space.

Conventional crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV, the largest sector of the PV industry and the largest consumer

of silver both in total and per watt or per unit of cell area, will experience continued growth and is

unlikely to ever be fully replaced by newer alternatives such as inorganic thin-film PV (TFPV), dye

sensitized cells (DSC) or organic PV (OPV). Growth of newer PV technologies like OPV, cadmium

telluride (CdTe), and copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) PV, as well as technologies that use less

silver, will also occur. Furthermore, the PV industry tends to be risk-averse and thus resistant to

changing processes.

Some Struggles for Brazing and Soldering

In the brazing and soldering alloys market, silver flakes and powders already face competition from

practical, less expensive alternatives, and because this market already uses alloys with varying silver

content, it is a natural target for customers to find ways to decrease overall silver usage. On the

positive side, the overall size of the brazing and soldering market is expected to increase as the global

economy recovers from the recent downturn and as developing markets, particularly in China and

India, continue to grow. The result: demand for silver powder in brazing and solder alloys should

remain essentially flat.

Silver brazes are most typically used for joining of hard metals, stainless steel, titanium, and certain

copper joints. They are prized for their high performance and ease of use. And while end-users are

expected to seeks ways to reduce cost by reducing silver content, NanoMarkets anticipates that even

with high silver prices, this segment will experience some growth. There are few suitable non-silver

NanoMarkets

NanoMarkets, LC | PO Box 3840 | Glen Allen, VA 23058 | TEL: 804-360-2967 | FAX: 804-360-7259

www.nanomarkets.net

Page | 6

options for hard metal brazes, ceramic-to-metal brazes and aerospace and aviation brazes, so these

segments will also provide opportunities to silver powder and flake manufacturers.

Nanosilver: Small Packages with Real Potential

Nanosilver has been suggested for use as a conductive material in sophisticated inks and adhesives,

and its inherent antimicrobial nature has led to its use in nanosilver-impregnated consumer goods and

medical applications. NanoMarkets expects that both of these segments will be growth areas.

In conductive applications, nanosilver finds use mostly in new or emerging applications that can more

easily support its high cost, such as ink-jet inks for new printed electronics or nano-adhesives.

Furthermore, as the high cost of production of nanosilver comes down in response to growing volume

demand, its high efficiency may make it attractive in a wider array of ink/paste and adhesive

applications if average silver prices remain over $30 per Troy ounce as NanoMarkets anticipates.

Suppliers will need to demonstrate real savings for customers, though, as other less expensive

alternatives like carbon, copper, and even silver-coated metal hybrids, may also be effective.

There is also opportunity for nanosilver in screen printing inks as the importance of alternative printing

methods (ink jet, gravure, flexographic, etc.) that require printed silver with uniform and fine

geometries increases. Miniaturization in the printed circuit board (PCB) market has also created a need

for printing of ever-finer features using approaches ideally suited for nanosilver.

As an antimicrobial preparation for medical and consumer goods, nanosilver is expected to provide

longer durability and increased sustainability of antimicrobial activity while using less silver than silver

salts. And since nanosilvers can be embedded into products in ways that silver salts cannot, a much

wider range of applications are now possible.

The biggest potential markets for nanosilver in consumer foods are in food packaging and food

preparation items, textiles like socks and athletic wear, and miscellaneous plastic consumer goods. In

all cases, bulk impregnation provides a uniform concentration of nanosilver, allows for lower loadings

and does not affect the characteristics of the host materials. Similarly, likely medical applications will

include impregnation of infection-prone or biofilm-prone components like catheters, tubing, bandage

materials, prosthetics, etc.

There is concern, however, about the long-term health effects of increased or widespread consumer

use of silver are still under debate both in the medical and regulatory communities, particularly in the

US and Europe. The regulatory environment is beginning to clarify, though, and NanoMarkets expects

that most regulations will be finalized within the next year two. In addition, Asian manufacturers are

moving forward with the introduction of numerous nanosilver-based antimicrobial products. Thus

strong growth is expected for nanosilver in consumer goods and medical devices, with the growth rate

highest in Asia.

NanoMarkets

NanoMarkets, LC | PO Box 3840 | Glen Allen, VA 23058 | TEL: 804-360-2967 | FAX: 804-360-7259

www.nanomarkets.net

Page | 7

Hybrids Provide Hope

Suppliers may also find a competitive advantage in a world of high silver prices by augmenting their

silver lines with less expensive, yet still sufficiently high performance, hybrid materials. Two key

examples of this strategy include silver-coated copper powders and flakes for conductive adhesives

and conductive ink applications, and new and improved brazing alloys with reduced precious metal

content. Hybrid materials for conductive applications do not perform as well as pure silver, but rising

silver prices are driving interest in these alternatives where there performance is adequate. In the

brazing industry, suppliers are working closing with clients to find customized solutions for brazing

applications where alloy characteristics are more important than conductivity.

Leading Players in the Silver Flake and Powder Market

Leading traditional silver powder and flake producers include Ferro, Ames Goldsmith, Metalor, and

Johnson Matthey. Prince/Izant is a market leader among specialized companies producing powders

for brazing. Inframat, ANP, and many other small firms are actively commercializing nanosilver

products.

Conclusion

Overall, NanoMarkets believes that end-users will continue to rely on tried and tested silver unless

they can be persuaded to move to more sophisticated materials without sacrificing performance or

until economic considerations warrant a switch to such alternative materials in order to maintain

profitability. While hybrid silver materials and nanosilver will grow dramatically in the next eight

years, this growth will be from a very small base. And even though end-users will look to find ways to

reduce silver consumption per unit of products as a result of high silver prices, demand for traditional

silver flakes and powders will depend largely on the global economic situation and growth in emerging

markets continues.

For additional details about the NanoMarkets report, Silver Powders and Flakes – 2011 please visit the

NanoMarkets website at www.nanomarkets.net or contact us via email at sales@nanomarkets.net or

by phone at 804-270-4370.