Development advantages of rare earth in Baotou Steel

Outstanding resource advantages and obvious cost advantages. As the largest monopoly stock of scarce resources in China, the company relies on the exploitation of rare earth and iron in Baiyun Obo, with rare earth reserves accounting for nearly 50% of the world and unique resource advantages. The raw materials needed by the company for smelting rare earths come from high-intensity magnetic middling, high-intensity magnetic tailings and some water, electricity and steam needed for production, all of which are purchased from Baotou Steel Group at the agreed price. Since 2009, the company has signed a three-year supply contract for high-intensity magnetic middling, high-intensity magnetic tailings and water, electricity and steam with Baotou Steel Group, and the purchase prices of mineral products are basically the same as those in 2006. Compared with other rare earth enterprises, the raw material cost of the company does not include mining and mineral processing costs, but directly buys pulp from Baotou Steel Group. The 2009 annual report shows that the total price of pulp purchased by the company from Baotou Steel Group only accounts for 65,438+0.24% of the operating cost in the same period, and the company has obvious cost advantage. In 2009, the company produced 57,600 tons of rare earth oxides, accounting for 48% of the domestic output and 46.55% of the global output. Among them, rare earth cerium accounts for 5 1%, rare earth lanthanum accounts for 25%, and rare earth neodymium and praseodymium account for 16% and 5% respectively (see figure 1). The company plays an important role in the global rare earth industry.

Rare earth reserves account for nearly 50% of the world, and the resource advantage is unique. Because the company directly buys pulp from Baotou Steel Group, the raw material cost of the company does not include the cost of mining and mineral processing. Compared with other rare earth enterprises, the company has obvious cost advantages. Taking 2009 as an example, the company purchased 43 million yuan of middling and tailings from the Group, accounting for only 1.7% of the sales revenue.

The industrial chain of rare earth application has been extended and enjoyed the policy dividend for a long time. The company is extending to the downstream deep processing field with great development potential through acquisition, combination and reorganization, including: rare earth praseodymium, neodymium-permanent magnet NdFeB, rare earth lanthanum-nickel-hydrogen power battery, rare earth cerium polishing material and rare earth europium-fluorescent material. The application of rare earth in low-carbon new materials industry will gradually become the main aspect of rare earth demand. In 2009, the application proportion of rare earth in the field of new materials has reached more than half, about 50.69%, and it is expected to develop to 70% in the future. Among them, permanent magnet motor is an important engine to promote the demand of NdFeB, and the promotion of energy-saving lamps and nickel-hydrogen batteries will also promote the explosive growth of rare earth demand.

Policy orientation accelerates the integration of rare earth industry. Baotou rare earth integration mode effectively controls the supply of raw materials and the sales of finished products by means of unified purchase and marketing, and improves the control over upstream resources. Baotou Steel Rare Earth set up an international trading company, not only for purchasing and warehousing, but also for integration. On the one hand, the total rare earth mining index is relatively stable. We predict that in the future, the state-controlled total mining index will still maintain a small and steady increase. On the other hand, export quotas will be reduced year by year. By 20 15, the total export quota will be controlled within 35,000 tons per year, and the export will be further subdivided, and some varieties will be prohibited from exporting. In terms of policy orientation, the audited emission standards of pollutants in rare earth industry, as well as the drafts such as Access Conditions for Rare Earth Industry, Special Plan for the Development of Rare Earth Industry and Policy for the Development of Rare Earth Industry, which are being prepared, all emphasize the improvement of concentration and access threshold, and reorganize nearly 100 domestic rare earth separation enterprises into 20, thus forming the pricing power of domestic rare earth products. Therefore, strengthening the state's control over the rare earth industry is of positive significance to the long-term healthy development of the rare earth industry.