[jeff5may]

Strontium carbonate is not strontium metal. It is used in fireworks and ceramic glazes. As with most chemicals, purity costs more. I believe technical or reagent grade is like 10 bucks a kilo, ultrapure maybe 20. In bulk, it is around $400 or so per ton for industrial grade. China has become a huge exporter of these "specialty chemicals" as well as rare earth metals. There is a long list of these chemicals that are no longer economical to produce in America due to government regulation of production.

EDIT: Hey! I just realized that I knew about this from somewhere... It's the next thing up the periodic table from calcium! Same basic problem set also. I don't know about the hydration states of strontium carbonate, but I bet they are a lot like calcium carbonate. Good phase change chemical. I do know that calcium carbonate decomposes the same way at high temperature, though, with similar somewhat predictable reversibility.