In the future, China's demand for rare earths will continue to grow. Demand for permanent magnet materials is strong.
       Rare earths are widely used in traditional industries such as metallurgical machinery, petrochemicals, ceramic glass, agricultural textiles, etc. At the same time, the application of rare earths in new materials, such as rare earth permanent magnets, hydrogen storage alloy materials, luminescent fluorescent materials, purification catalysts, etc. The vast space is called "industrial MSG."
       In the 21st century, various new concept technologies such as smart homes, smart cars, high-temperature superconductors, magnetic levitation, etc. have emerged. The advancement of science and technology has made people full of imagination for future life. At the same time, energy consumption is accelerating, international competition is intensifying, and environmental pollution is increasing. Under the background of increasingly severe and space exploration, the strategic development of energy, environmental protection and military industry has also become the focus of attention of all countries. Due to its special properties and its wide application in high-tech, such as new sensors and pollutant treatment catalysts, rare earth materials have become the basic support for these future dreams, and are popular among countries all over the world.


      Rare earth is China's advantageous strategic resource, and China's rare earth industry plays an important role in the world.
      China has a global reserve of 44%, China's rare earth reserves of 55 million tons, accounting for more than 40% of the global total, compared with other countries. In addition to China, Brazil has 17% of the world's rare earth reserves. More than 80% of rare earths are produced in China. China is currently the world's leading producer of rare earths. In recent years, China's rare earths have accounted for more than 80% of global production.
       In 2016, China's rare earth ore production was 105,000 tons, accounting for 88.91% of the global total. Since the beginning of 2013, the price of rare earths has fallen to the bottom of history and has remained low for a long time. The profitability of overseas rare earth mine projects is not good. In 2016, the US Moutain Pass rare earth mine was shut down, and the production of rare earth ore except China was only 131,000 tons. It is estimated that the production of rare earth mines in China in 2017 is about 106,000 tons.
China is the country with the richest rare earth resources in the world. 22 provinces (regions) have discovered a number of rare earth deposits, mainly in Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Shandong and other places. At the same time, China's rare earth ore production also accounts for a large share of the world. As can be seen from the table below, in 2001-2017, China's rare earth production accounted for more than 83% of the global rare earth production, indicating the important position of China's rare earth industry in the world.
       In 2017, China’s rare earth exports recorded a new high. According to customs statistics analysis, China exported 51,199 tons of rare earths in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 9.7%. In 2014-2017, the compound growth rate of China's rare earth exports was 28%. Although compared with the 34.2% increase in 2016, the growth rate in 2017 has dropped significantly, but the current export situation of rare earth is not good for China's resource protection measures. The increase in China's rare earth exports is due to the supply of rare earths from China. According to the "China's Rare Earth Conditions and Policies" document issued by the State Council, China has undertaken more than 90% of the world's market supply with 23% of rare earth resources.
In the recent Sino-US trade friction, rare earth is a significant strategic resource for China's advantages. It is considered by the industry to be a good anti-product of Sino-US trade friction.


       China's NdFeB production has accounted for 40% of the world's total
       The rare earth permanent magnet material refers to an alloy formed of a rare earth metal and a transition metal. This permanent magnet material made by a certain process is extremely magnetic and can be maintained for a long time. This material is now divided into the first generation (RECo5), the second generation (RE2TMl7) and the third generation rare earth permanent magnet material (NdFeB). The advent of NdFeB rare earth materials and their rapid application in the electronics field has created a wave of NdFeB plating in the electroplating industry. This is because NdFeB materials are one of the important basic materials in electronic information products, and are closely related to many electronic information products. With the popularization of communication equipment such as computers, mobile phones, and car phones, and the rapid development of energy-saving automobiles, the demand for high-performance rare earth permanent magnet materials in the world has rapidly increased.
       China has initially formed its own system in the production of NdFeB, and its output has accounted for 40% of the world total. However, in this share, high-end products have not yet formed strong strength and lack of international competitiveness, as an important component of new materials. Some rare earth permanent magnet materials are widely used in energy, transportation, machinery, medical, IT, home appliances and other industries. Their products involve many areas of the national economy, and their production and consumption have also become a measure of a country's overall national strength and national economic development level. One of the important signs.


       Strong demand for permanent magnet materials, China's rare earth demand continues to grow
       Benefiting from the rapid development of China's rare earth permanent magnet downstream application market, China's permanent magnet materials demand is very strong. In recent years, rare earth permanent magnet materials have been used in applications such as nuclear magnetic resonance imager, motor, audio, magnetic separator, watt-hour meter, magnetizer, sensor, etc., in addition to high-tech, national defense, industrial and agricultural, and Great progress has been made in applications such as household appliances. The rapid development of downstream applications has also led to the continuous growth of China's rare earth demand, especially in the field of new energy vehicles.
       In 2017, China's new energy vehicle production was 794,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 53.6%; sales volume was 777,000 units, up 53.3% year-on-year; production and sales ranked first in the world for three consecutive years. In 2010-2017, the annual compound growth rate of China's new energy vehicle sales reached 94.4%. In the automobile industry planning such as the "Long-term Development Plan for the Automobile Industry", it is clearly stated that by 2020, the annual output of new energy vehicles in China will reach 2 million. China's new energy vehicles still have huge room for growth.
       On the whole, under the continuous expansion of rare earth downstream markets such as new energy vehicles and wind power, China's demand for rare earths will continue to grow in the future.