In 2004, the world output of rare earth mineral products was 107950t, and China controlled 9 1% of the total output. The consumption of rare earth mineral products in the world is 90,000 tons, and the supply exceeds the demand. The main consumers are China, Japan and the United States. It is predicted that in the next few years, the demand for rare earths in electronics, magnets, glass and ceramics and industries related to consumer electronics will increase, with an average annual growth rate of 3.2%.
I. Reserves and resources
There are about 200 kinds of minerals containing rare earth, but only about 10 has been mined, among which light rare earth minerals mainly include bastnaesite, monazite and cerium-niobium perovskite; Heavy rare earth minerals mainly include: xenotime, brown yttrium ore, ilmenite and so on. In addition to China, CIS countries, the United States, Australia, India and other places are rich in rare earth resources. Since 2002, the data of rare earth resources published by China and Brazil have changed greatly compared with the past, resulting in the adjustment of the global rare earth reserves estimated by the US Geological Survey from 6.5438+0 million t to 88 million t, and the reserve base is still 6.5438+0.5 million t (Table 654.38+0). The world is rich in rare earth resources, which can meet the long-term demand of the world.
Table 1 2005 World Rare Earth Reserves and Reserve Base Unit: 10,000 tons (REO)
Source: Summary of Mineral Commodities in 2006.
There are abundant rare earth metal resources in the world, but they are unevenly distributed and the degree of exploration is generally not high. The resources in the United States and the world are mainly cerite and monazite. Most of the economically exploitable rare earth resources in the world are cerite, concentrated in China and the United States; Monazite mines are mainly distributed in Australia, Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the United States. Rare earth resources also include apatite, thorium-rich monazite, xenolith, secondary monazite, cerium-niobium perovskite, phosphate rock, clay ore containing adsorbed ion rare earth and xenotime. Rare earth resources have great potential and can meet the demand in the future.
Second, production.
Before 1960, Brazil, India, Malaysia and Australia were all leaders in the production of rare earth raw materials, and it was not until the mid-1960s that the United States took the lead in the production of rare earth. Since 1980s, China has gradually entered the international rare earth market. Since 1986, China has always maintained an absolute leading position in rare earth production. At present, China, the United States, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, India, Brazil, Malaysia and other countries are mainly engaged in mining and mineral processing. France leads the world in the production of high-purity single rare earth, and Japan leads the world in the production of deep-processed rare earth products. In 2004, driven by the increase in China's output, the output of rare earth oxide mines in the world increased by 1050t, with an increase of 1.0% (Table 2).
Table 2 World Rare Earth Production Unit: Tons
Note: NA indicates missing data.
Source: USGS, Mineral Yearbook, 200 1 ~ 2004.
China's rare earth production enterprises are distributed in eight provinces (regions) such as Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi and Sichuan. The annual production capacity of mineral products is 1 10000 t, and the smelting and processing capacity reaches 654.38+0.4 million ~ 654.38+0.5 million t/ year. The production capacity exceeds the total world demand. Therefore, in the next 10 ~ 15 years, the state will no longer approve new rare earth metallurgical projects in principle, and the output of mineral products will be controlled at 90,000 t level. The key point is to strengthen the development and application research of new rare earth materials.
American molybdenum company has been engaged in rare earth production for a long time, but the output has decreased. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unocal, which mainly produces rare earth concentrates and single rare earth high-purity products. The designed production capacity is 20,000 t/a (reo), and the actual annual output is about 5,000 t at present.
In India, there are mainly two rare earth producers, namely Indian Rare Earth Company (IRE) and Kerala Mining and Metals Company (KMML). IRE operates three monazite heavy sand mines, which are located on the Chawana coast in Kerala, Kuric in Tamil Nadu and Orissa. The main products are thorium chloride and thorium hydroxide. KMML also has a monazite heavy sand mine on the coast of Chawana, Kerala, with an average of 57.5% rare earth oxide, 7.96% thorium oxide and 28.2% phosphate. The estimated resources are 240 million tons of ilmenite, 20 million tons of rutile, 50 million tons of zircon, 60 million tons of sillimanite and 4 million tons of monazite. At present, the company is building a new separation plant. After completion, the company's ilmenite production capacity can reach 3 million tons/year.
In Australia, the rare earth project developed by Lin Nasi in the Vaild Mountain mine in Western Australia is about to be completed. On June 5, 2002+February, flotation production test was carried out with the mined ore samples. It is planned to start commercial construction in June-July 2003 and formally put into production in March 2004. The generated rare earth carbonate (concentrated raw material) is entrusted to China Separation Plant for treatment. Vaild Mountain Mine is a raw ore of rare earth, tantalum, niobium and phosphate discovered in 1980. The recoverable amount of rare earth ore is 7.7 million t, the grade 12%(9 17000t, REO), and the content of radioactive substances (ThO2 is 0.0654%, U3O8 is 0.0654%). In 2002, Lin Nasi acquired a 0/00% interest in this mine.
In Estonia, Silmet has been in Sillam since 1969. E) The treatment plant is engaged in the separation of rare earth minerals, specializing in the treatment of cerium-niobium perovskite concentrate, and more than half of the original raw materials are provided by Lovoyuski Plant in Russia. During the period of 1992, the raw materials were changed to anhydrous rare earth chloride and rare earth carbonate in Soriga, Russia, and the raw materials were also imported from China. 1999, the company established joint ventures with Russian Soriga Musky Magnesium Factory and SOV Boride Metal Factory, and the processing capacity of cerium-niobium-calcium-titanium concentrate increased by 30% ~ 40%, reaching 12000t/ year, and the REO output increased from 2400t/ year to 3000t/ year. In the Gulf of Finland in the northeast of Estonia, Sermet also has 1 rare earth metal production plant and 1 alloy smelting plant with a production capacity of 700 t/a.
In France, Rhodia Electronics and Catalyst Materials Group is a large multinational company that produces downstream rare earth products, and has actually been upgraded to a global company responsible for new rare earth materials. At present, it has invested in 15 joint venture in China and established 8 scientific research laboratories in Shanghai. The company is headquartered in laroche, a seaside town in western France. In 2002, the company announced that it had developed a new generation of catalyst Eolys for diesel vehicles. This rare earth product can remove more than 90% or even 99% of particulate emissions from diesel engines, and has been applied to Peugeot and Citroen cars.
Three. Use and consumption
At present, the consumption fields of rare earth mainly include catalysis (petrochemical industry, automobile exhaust purification), metallurgy, glass-ceramics, permanent magnets, phosphors, nickel/metal hydride batteries and other new materials. The main consuming countries or regions are China, the United States, Western Europe and Japan. Since the 1990s, with the increasing demand for automobiles, computers, consumer electronics and mobile electronic equipment, the application of rare earths, especially in automobile exhaust catalysts, permanent magnets and rechargeable batteries, has been increasing. In 2004, the global consumption of rare earth oxides was 90,000 t, up 2.4% year on year (Table 3).
Table 3 Rare Earth Consumption in the United States, China and the World Unit: t(REO)
Note: The apparent consumption data of the United States from 1992 to 2004 are quoted from the statistical abstract of mineral commodities of the United States Geological Survey. 1992-2002 China consumption was quoted from China Mineral Resources Annual Report 2003, and the consumption in 2004 was quoted from China Rare Earth Online. For the total world consumption, please refer to the documents of Judith Chegwidden, Lin and China Rare Earth Online. NA is a temporary lack of data.
Since 1998, the consumption of rare earths in China has surpassed that of the United States, ranking first in the world. In 2004, the consumption of rare earth products in China was 29,600 tons, up 0.3% year-on-year, accounting for 32.9% of the world's total consumption. Among them, the consumption of high-tech materials is 106 10t, accounting for 35.8% of the national total consumption; Metallurgical machinery 5400t, accounting for18.2%; Petroleum and chemical industries are 4450t, accounting for15.0%; Agriculture, light industry, textile 3090t, accounting for10.4%; 6050t glass ceramics, accounting for 20.6%.
Japan is the country with the highest R&D level of rare earths in the world, and the application fields of rare earths are mainly concentrated in high-tech industries such as permanent magnets, phosphors, nickel-hydrogen batteries, polishing powder, and ultraviolet-proof glass. According to the statistics of visual consumption, in 2004, American visual consumption was16,400t, up by 16.2% year-on-year, ranking third in the world. The annual consumption of rare earths in Europe is about 10000t, and the main consumption areas are automobile exhaust purification catalysts and glass polishing powder.
Four. Trade and markets
The world rare earth trade is mainly carried out between countries rich in rare earth resources and economically developed countries.
China has maintained its special status as a rare earth exporter since 1998. It is not only the largest exporter of rare earths in the world, but also an exporter of high-purity and high value-added products. In the world rare earth market, China is the only country that can supply a large number of rare earth products with different grades and varieties. China's exports of rare earth products mainly flow to more than 40 countries and regions such as Japan, the United States, France, the Netherlands, Italy and South Korea.
On the one hand, the United States imports rare earths from China, French, Indian and other countries, on the other hand, it exports rare earth products to more than 30 countries and regions in the world. In 2004, the United States imported 23,500 tons of rare earth products, a year-on-year increase of 4 1.0%. The export volume 12 100t increased by 60.2% year-on-year, mainly due to the sharp increase in imports from Canada, Estonia, Germany and Japan. The main import sources of rare earth metals and compounds in the United States are China, French, Japanese and Russian.
Japan has no rare earth resources and needs to use imported rare earth raw materials to develop its own rare earth industry. In 2004, the output of rare earth products was 60 15t, and the import volume was 26762t, up by 4. 1% year-on-year. Among them, the import volume of rare earth compounds and rare earth metals increased, while the import volume of yttrium decreased. The import volume from China is 24 174t, accounting for 90.3%. Other import sources include the United States, France, India, Estonia, China, Taiwan Province Province, Malaysia, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Germany and Norway.
In terms of price, the price of rare earth products in China continued to fall from 2000 to 2005, and the rare earth market was still at a low point. Among them, the metal samarium, Sm≥99%, and the price in 2005 was 100 ~ 140 yuan/kg, which remained unchanged; Metal cerium, Ce≥99%, 35 ~ 40 yuan/kg, down11%year-on-year; Lanthanum oxide, La2O3≥99%, 12 ~ 26 yuan/kg, down 20.0% year-on-year; Europium oxide (Eu2O3≥99%),1800 ~ 2,200 yuan/kg, down 21.4% year-on-year; Only metal neodymium, Nd≥99%, the price rose to 95 ~ 105 yuan/kg, up 3 1.9% year-on-year. The main reason is the surplus of rare earth products, and manufacturers cut prices to compete for sales.
The domestic market price in the United States is relatively stable, with little change from 2003 to 2004. In 2004, the price of bastnaesite concentrate was 5.5 1 USD/kg, and that of monazite concentrate was 0.73 USD/kg. Products with falling import prices include: rare earth metals, from 6.97 US dollars/kg to 5.22 US dollars/kg. The products with rising import price are cerium compounds (excluding cerium chloride), from 4. 15 USD/kg to 4.67 USD/kg; The average import price of rare earth chloride increased from 1.50 USD/kg in 2003 to 2.4 1 USD/kg. The import price of other products in 2004 was basically the same as that in 2003.
The ex-factory price of rare earth oxides in Rhodia Company is also relatively stable. Compared with 2003, the price in 2004 remained basically unchanged (Table 4).
Table 4 Ex-factory price of rare earth oxides of Rhodia Company in 2004 Unit: USD/kg
Source: Mineral Yearbook, 2004.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) view
In recent years, the supply of rare earth products has been in a state of oversupply. In the second half of 200 1, there was a price war, which not only caused the price of some products to drop by more than 40%, but also caused great pressure on the profit rate of products, forcing many enterprises with poor benefits to go bankrupt, and even most of the existing enterprises were operating at extremely low profits. Although the consumption of rare earths increased in 2003, the output was still too high, which led to the continued low price.
According to the analysis of American commercial communication company, this situation seems to have reached the lowest point in 2003, and it is expected to reverse the situation soon. Especially with the increasing demand of automobiles, computers, consumer electronic products and mobile electronic equipment, the application of rare earths, especially in automobile exhaust catalysts, permanent magnets and rechargeable batteries, will continue to increase. In the next few years, the demand for neodymium and cerium used in permanent magnets and automotive exhaust catalytic purifiers will increase greatly. The demand for rare earths for Ni-MH batteries, medical equipment, sensors and dental and surgical lasers will also increase. Magnetic refrigeration will be commercialized. Erbium-doped fiber will enter a new round of demand boom.
Therefore, American commercial communication company predicts that the global demand for rare earths will increase at an average annual rate of 3.2 percentage points in the next few years, and will reach 90,000 ~ 65,438+10,000 t in 2007. By then, the global output value of rare earths will reach 2 billion US dollars. Strong growth industries include electronics, permanent magnets, glass and ceramics, as well as industries related to consumer electronics.
Main references
[1] Rogers Uys. Rare earth elements. Mining Communication Co., Ltd., Annual Review of Mining, 2005.
[2] Rare Earth Information, No.65438, 2005 +0 ~ 3.
[3] Rare Earth Information, No.65438, 2006 +0 ~ 3.
[4] The second international rare earth conference closed in Hongkong-China's rare earth development momentum is strong. China Rare Earth Online:/aboutus/aboutus/meeting/0328b.htm.