Ferroboron is a common iron-boron ferroalloy widely used in steelmaking, casting and new material industries. It works as an efficient micro-alloying additive to improve metal performance with only a tiny addition amount.
This alloy looks silver-grey, supplied in lumps, granules or powder. According to boron and carbon content, it is mainly divided into low-carbon ferroboron and medium-carbon ferroboron for different industrial scenarios.
Main Production Methods
- Aluminothermic method: Produce high-purity low-carbon ferroboron with fewer impurities, mostly for high-end manufacturing fields.
- Carbothermic method: Low production cost, large output, fit for mass production of ordinary ferroboron for general steelmaking.
Core Applications
- Steelmaking: Refine metal grain, improve steel hardenability and toughness. It can replace expensive alloy elements to cut production costs, widely used in high-strength structural steel, bearing steel and pipeline steel.
- Casting industry: Boost surface hardness and wear resistance of cast iron parts, such as engine accessories and machine tool wear parts.
- Welding materials: Added into welding electrodes to enhance wear resistance of welding seams.
- New energy materials: A key boron raw material for NdFeB permanent magnets, supporting wind power equipment and new energy vehicle motor production.
Market Trend
Driven by booming new energy industry, the demand for high-purity low-carbon ferroboron keeps rising. China is the world's major ferroboron producer with complete industrial chains and stable export supply. Besides, energy-saving and low-carbon smelting technology has become the mainstream development direction for ferroboron manufacturers.
As an essential ferroalloy additive, ferroboron plays an irreplaceable role in upgrading metal material performance. With the development of high-end manufacturing and new energy industries, this alloy will keep steady market demand in the future.
