Analysis of supply and demand situation of boron resources in China

China ranks fourth in the world in terms of its abundant reserves of boron resources. However, there are several issues in the industry, such as the concentration of distribution, low yield despite large reserves, and the difficulty in mining. Additionally, the demand for boron resources has increased due to its expanding application scenes, resulting in a rise in imports and foreign dependence. The paper combines quantitative analysis with qualitative analysis and uses the gray system theory GM（1,1） model and departmental prediction method to predict China’s boron consumption from 2022 to 2026. The GM（1,1） model provides results that align with the neutral prediction values obtained from the departmental prediction method. And predicts that China’s apparent consumption （B₂O₃） of boron will reach 1.156 4 million tons, 1.226 6 million tons, 1.301 8 million tons, 1.382 4 million tons, and 1.468 6 million tons, respectively, during the specified period. In addition, China is facing an imbalance between supply and demand of boron resources, to change this situation, analyzes the issue from the perspectives of the supply side, the demand side, and the market side, proposing reasonable recommendations to address these challenges, including increasing the exploration and development of traditional boron mining areas that have already been identified, persistently exploring new areas with potential for mineralization, and “going out” to develop and utilize foreign resources; promoting the optimization and upgrading of the entire industry chain of the boron industry, achieving reasonable resource allocation for upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors, and resolving the supply and demand contradiction between different links; improving industrial concentration by integrating small boron chemical enterprises that have already been closed or faced closure, and strengthening the transformation of scientific achievements through industry-university-research cooperation for the development of boron resources, and absorbing and digest advanced foreign technologies to develop high-end boron products.