tantalum - tantamount to torture, page-7

I don't buy the 'declining demand for Tantalum' argument!

Admittedly, Tantalum is an extremely small market - c. 2,000tpa of demand. So stockpiles, coltan supply, etc, will have a disproportionate effect over the shorter-term. But the devices that require the material are now becoming available to billions of new consumers, let alone the replacement needs for the millions of existing devices that are now 'must haves' in the developed world.

Whether GIP will eventually win through and become a major supplier of Ta is still a moot point - but I have little doubt that the world will need ever-increasing amounts of Tantalum in the years ahead.

The Ta price is creeping up and the lead times for materials for the end users are extending. Clearly, we are approaching a supply/demand crunch and sooner or later the monopolistic processors will have to secure future supply.