Magnetic Materials Series Report 2 – Industry Chain and Market
Magnetic material industry chain structure
In the downstream application of magnetic materials, because of the magnetoelectric, magneto-optical and other properties of magnetic materials, the materials are widely used in modern industrial products.
The magnetic material raw material supply layer involves the iron oxide, manganese tetroxide, zinc oxide and other ferrous metal steel industries, as well as the rare earth industry.
Magnetic material (rare earth) raw material market
The upstream raw materials of magnetic materials, especially the rare earth industry, have many production enterprises and are currently in a state of basic overcapacity. The impact of the price of rare earth raw materials on the price of the rare earth permanent magnet material industry is quite intuitive.
-Price Trend of NdFeB Materials-
As shown in the figure, during the same period, the price of NdFeB increased in response to the price shock of raw materials, with a slight lag, but the overall price fluctuation was almost directly affected.
Magnetic Materials Series Report 2 – Industry Chain and Market
Magnetic Materials Series Report China’s rare earth raw materials
China is the world’s largest rare earth reserve country, and the overall rare earth resources are characterized by “the north is light and the south is heavy”. The north is represented by the Bayan Obo mine in Baotou, which mainly produces light rare earths, such as praseodymium and neodymium, whose reserves exceed 80% of the national total; the mines in the south are relatively scattered, mainly in Jiangxi, Yunnan, Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan, Guangxi and other southern six. The ionic rare earth mines in the province are mainly heavy rare earths, such as dysprosium and terbium, whose reserves account for 90% of my country’s heavy rare earth resources.
China’s rare earth reserves are large, the supply is large, and the consumption is fast. According to USGS statistics from the United States, the total global rare earth reserves are about 120 million tons, and China’s rare earth reserves are 44 million tons, accounting for 37% of the world’s total reserves. However, in recent years, with the rapid exploitation and consumption of rare earth resources in my country, the proven reserves of rare earth ore in China have decreased by 20% compared with 2010.
China is a major supplier of rare earths in the world and monopolizes the supply of global rare earth resources. According to data from the United States Geological Survey, since 2000, my country’s rare earth supply has accounted for more than 69% of the world’s supply, and even reached more than 97% in 2010. In recent years, with the national policy to control the total amount of mining, the mining volume has declined. In 2020, China is still the world’s largest rare earth mining country, with a total rare earth mining volume of about 140,000 tons throughout the year.
China’s rare earth mine production accounts for the vast majority of the world’s share. In 2020, the world’s rare earth output is 243,300 tons, of which China’s rare earth output is 140,000 tons, accounting for 57.54%. From 2001 to 2020, China’s rare earth production accounted for the proportion of global rare earth production to maintain a monopoly position. In recent years, due to the national policy restricting mining, the proportion has declined, and my country’s rare earth industry still maintains an extremely important position in the world.
In 2020, the demand for permanent magnet materials in China’s rare earth consumption structure will account for 42%. Among rare earth permanent magnet materials, NdFeB has become the main form of rare earth permanent magnets with low cost and high-quality magnetic properties.
Magnetic Materials Series Report Rare earth raw materials in the United States
The United States is also one of the countries rich in rare earth resources in the world. The rare earth resources in the United States mainly include bastnaesite, monazite and other minerals, which can be recovered as by-products of black rare earth ore, silicon beryllium yttrium ore and xenotime ore . The world’s largest single bastnasite is the Mountain Pass Mine in San Bedino County, California. The mine was discovered in 1949 when exploring radioactive minerals. The rare earth grade is 5-10% REO and the reserves are 5 million. As much as tons (accounting for 13% of global reserves), it is a large rare earth mine. Monazite mining in the United States is also earlier and more abundant, and the amount of placer mined is the Green Coff Springs Mine in Florida. The deposit is about 19 kilometers long, 1.2 kilometers wide and 6 meters thick. In addition, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Idaho and Montana also have placer distribution, and the reserves are also considerable. At present, the United States has already closed 87 large-scale rare earth mines, including the world’s largest Mountain Pass mine. If all 87 mines in the United States start up, they can meet the commercial demand of rare earth mines in the world for 280 years.
Magnetic Materials Series Report Rare earth raw materials in Russia
Russia has huge reserves of rare earths. According to an estimate by the US Geological Survey in January 1993, the reserves of rare earths are about 19 million tons, accounting for 19% of the world’s total reserves. The rare earth mines in Russia mainly include titanium niobate, apatite and fluorocarbonate, etc., mainly recovering rare earth resources from apatite ore. Associated deposits, mainly located on the Kola Peninsula, where the apatite in the alkaline rock contains rare earths. The main source of rare earths in Russia is the recovery of rare earths from apatite ore. In addition, in apatite ore, rare earth minerals that can be recovered are cerium niobium perovskite, which contains 29%-34% of rare earths. In addition, there are bastnaesites in Helebit and Sennell. In May 2013, Russia developed the Tomtor rare earth mine in the Russian Far East at a transaction price of US$1 billion, which may become a landmark event and may break the monopoly of China in the rare earth market in the future. According to Russian media reports, the ICT group controlled by the Russian giant Alexander Nemesis, together with the Russian state-owned Rostec company, will work to promote Tomtor, one of the world’s largest reserves of rare earth resources. The Tomtor rare earth mine, which Russia focuses on developing, covers an area of 250 square kilometers and is located in the Yakutia region of Russia. It has about 150 million tons of rare earth reserves, including yttrium, niobium oxide, scandium and terbium. According to the International Business Times, the Tomtor rare earth mine contains up to 12% of the world’s total rare earth reserves, with proven reserves of 154 million tons, possibly more than all other world reserves combined. Assuming that Tomtor enters into production or is divided into a series of mines, it will certainly challenge the current rare earth market and threaten the monopoly of China’s rare earth market. At present, about 95% of rare metals are produced in China and widely used in various fields.
Rare earth raw materials in India
Rare earth resources in India are mainly monazite, which are distributed in coastal placers and inland placers. In 1993, the Atomic Minerals Division of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of India estimated the total reserves of monazite at 4.56 million tons. The famous monazite mining area is the Trafanco deposit in Chavala and Manafan La Curic on the southwest coast. From 1911 to 1945, the supply of monazite ore accounted for half of the world, and it is still an important source of rare earth. . In 1958, when exploring for uranium and thorium resources, a large-scale monazite and ilmenite deposit was discovered in the Ranchi Plateau of Bihar. The thorium content of monazite in India is as high as 8% ThO2. The heavy sand monazite quarried in Manavan Lakurić accounts for 5 to 6%. Ilmenite accounts for 65%, rutile 3%, zircon 5-6%, and garnet 7-8%.
In 2012, state-owned Indian Rare Earths Ltd decided to restart a large rare earth development project in the eastern state of Odisha that had been shelved in 2004 because it could not compete with Chinese rare earths.
The production of rare earth raw materials in China occupies a monopoly position in global production, which is caused by a combination of multiple factors. On the one hand, my country’s current production process of rare earth permanent magnet materials is lower than that of international cutting-edge products. The quality of products is generally low-to-medium, and the production capacity is too large. Therefore, the bargaining power on the raw material supply side was relatively low. On the other hand, some countries with rich rare earth resources in the world have not exploited their own resources in large quantities for strategic reasons, but imported a large number of rare earth resources from my country at low prices. my country’s gradual tightening of rare earth mining and export quotas has become one of the reasons for the rise in international rare earth raw material prices and the decline in the global share of China’s rare earth raw materials.
High-resistivity Sintered Laminated Magnet Arc-shape
Factory Direct Low Eddy Current Losses Segment Laminated NdFeB Magnet N38UH
N35AH N35EH Small Arc Laminated NdFeB Magnets for Motor
PM Motor Laminated Rare Earth Magnets
Phosphated Coating L Type Laminated Eddy Current Losses Magnet
Reduction Eddy Current Loss Neodymium Lamination Magnets