In 20 10, the world output of rare earth oxides was123,000 t, down 6.8% year-on-year. The consumption of rare earth mineral products in the world is 6.5438+0.20 million t, which is about 6.5438+0 million t less than the previous year, and the supply exceeds the demand. The main consumers of rare earths in the world are China, Japan and the United States.
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, which led to the adjustment of the global rare earth reserves estimated by the US Geological Survey from1million t to 88 million t. In 20 100, due to the increase of rare earth reserves in China, the global rare earth reserves were adjusted to11million t and 20/00. The world is rich in rare earth resources, which can meet the long-term demand of the world.
Table 1 20 1 1 world rare earth reserve unit: ten thousand tons (REO)
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 rare earth resources in the United States and the world are mainly cerite and monazite. Most of the economically recoverable cerium ores in the world are concentrated in China and the United States. Monazite mines are mainly distributed in China, USA, India, Malaysia, Australia, Brazil, Sri Lanka and Thailand (Table 2). Rare earth resources also include apatite, thorium-rich monazite, xenolith, secondary monazite, cerium-niobium perovskite, clay minerals containing adsorbed ion rare earth and xenotime. Rare earth resources have great potential and can meet the global demand in the future.
Table 2 World monazite reserve unit 20 1 1: t(Y2O3)
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 20 10, the global output of rare earth oxide mines123,000 t, decreased by 6.8% year-on-year (Table 3).
Table 3 World Rare Earth Oxide Production Unit: Tons
China rare earth production enterprises are distributed in 8 provinces (regions) such as Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi and Sichuan, with an annual production capacity of 6.5438+200,000 t of mineral products. The smelting and processing capacity is nearly 200,000 tons/year, and the production capacity exceeds the total world demand. Therefore, in the future 10 ~ 15, the state will no longer approve new rare earth smelting projects in principle, and the focus will be on strengthening the development and application research of new rare earth materials.
The rare earth separation plant in Pashan, California, USA resumed production in 2007, and continued production on 20 10. Mining enterprises continue to sell bastnaesite concentrate, other rare earth intermediate products and finished products in stock.
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-hydrogen batteries and other new materials. The main consuming countries and 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 20 10, the global consumption of rare earth oxides was120,000 t, which was lower than the previous year (Table 4).
Table 4 Consumption of Rare Earths in the United States, China and the World: ton (REO)
Since 1998, the consumption of rare earths in China has surpassed that of the United States, ranking first in the world. In 20 10, China's rare earth consumption was 87,000 t, up by 19.2% year-on-year (Table 4).
Japan is the country with the highest R&D level of rare earths in the world. The application fields of rare earths are mainly concentrated in high-tech industries such as permanent magnets, phosphors, Ni-MH batteries, polishing powder, anti-ultraviolet glass, etc. The consumption of rare earths in 20 10 is about 30,000 tons. According to the statistics of visual consumption, in 20 10, the visual consumption in the United States was 1 1000t, which was slightly lower, 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 of different grades and varieties. China's exports of rare earth products mainly flow to more than 70 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 earth products from China, French and Indian countries, on the other hand, it exports rare earth products to more than 30 countries and regions in the world. In 20 10, the import of American rare earth products16,200t increased by 8% year-on-year. The main import sources of rare earth metals and compounds in the United States are China, French and Japanese. The export volume was 8090 tons, up 8% year-on-year.
20 10 the domestic market price in the United States changes greatly. Compared with 2009, the ex-factory price of rare earth oxides in Rhodia Company fluctuated obviously in 20 10 (Table 5).
Table 5 Ex-factory price of rare earth oxides in Rhodia Company Unit: USD/kg
sequential
Verb (abbreviation of verb) view
In recent years, the supply of rare earth products has been exceeding the demand. Although the consumption of rare earths in China has increased in 20 10, the output is still too high. In the next few years, the global demand for rare earths will increase at an average annual rate of 3-5 percentage points, and it is estimated that it will reach about170,000 t in 20 15 years. By then, the global output value of rare earths will reach 2 billion US dollars. Industries with strong demand growth include automobiles, electronics, wind power generation, glass and ceramics, and industries related to consumer electronics.
Main references
James Hendrick, rare earth. Summary of mineral products, 20 12
[2] James Hendrick. Rare earth. United States Geological Survey, Mineral Yearbook, 2004 ~ 2010
[3] chinese society of rare earths Yearbook, 2006. Editorial Committee of Rare Earth Society.
[4] Matt Wong, Yang Mingsheng. Present situation and prospect of rare earth industry in China. Rare earth information, number 220 10.
[5] Philip Burkart. 20 10 American rare earth industry. Rare earth information, No.32011.
Shang Xiangang. Analysis report of rare earth industry in 2006.
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