Market
Imports of rare earthes from China
decreased nearly 70% in the first quarter from the same period of the previous
year. According to the Trade Statistics, imports of rare earthes in the first
quarter decreased 58% from the same period of the previous year to 3,650 tons,
and those from China decreased as much as 69% from the same period of the
previous year to 1,894 tons. In fact, imports of rare earthes have been
decreasing on a year-on-year basis for the past five months. The drastic decline
can be attributed to the stockpiling and innovation of Japanese companies.
Shin-Etsu Chemical, which has 20-30% share
in the world high performance magnet market, already introduced a production
method that considerably reduces dysprosium consumption. For magnets used in
air-conditioners, it is in the process of introducing the magnet that halves dysprosium
consumption, and plans to replace the current magnet with this new magnet
entirely by next spring. An increasing number of Japanese companies are
returning from metal magnet to ferrite magnet. And magnet makers are actively
developing new rare earth-free metal magnets.
In the production of high performance
magnets, it is necessary to add dysprosium for nearly 8% in weight to increase heat
resistance. Hitachi Metals is studying the method to reduce the content to 4%
by the technology to distribute dysprosium effectively. The company plans to
establish the mass production technology by 2014. At the same time, Japanese
companies are diversifying the supply sources of rare earthes. Mining companies
in the U.S. and Australia will start to ship cerium and neodymium to Japan within
the year.
The prices of rare earthes are declining in
June. Neodymium is currently 150 dollars per kg and dysprosium is 1,100 dollars
per kg. They both declined about 70% in price from July of the previous year
when they recorded all-time highs. As is often the case, technological
development reduces the prices of natural resources considerably.
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