Rare-earth parks bloom everywhere and overcapacity

“The disorder in the development of the rare earth park has led to a further excess of production capacity,” Ma Rongzheng, secretary-general of the rare earth association, said in an interview with a reporter from the Economic Information Daily. He said that since 2010, many areas have carried out planning and construction of rare earth parks. There are about 18 rare earth industrial parks in the country. These parks are similar in planning and are mostly resource-based and extend to the middle and lower reaches of the industrial chain. They involve rare earth separation and smelting, permanent magnets, light functions, hydrogen storage, polishing powders, catalysts, and other major rare earths. New materials, the construction of these rare earth parks will lead to further excess production capacity.

Rare-earth industrial parks are only a microcosm of excess capacity in the rare earth industry. In recent years, the disorderly expansion of production capacity in the rare earth industry has exposed the already fragile industrial chain to a new crisis.

The "Economic Information Daily" has learned from authoritative sources that since the beginning of this year, the rare earth association has conducted special investigations. Taking rare earth recycling companies as an example, the survey results show that there are a total of 55 waste recycling enterprises in the country, including 39 in Jiangxi, 4 in Jiangsu, three in Hunan, two in Inner Mongolia and Shanxi, and two in Henan, Shandong, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Yunnan. Each one. Since 2011, 90% of the companies have been rushed to check and approved, and the waste processing capacity has totaled 190,600 tons. Among them, the processing capacity of neodymium-iron-boron scrap was 142,000 tons, waste phosphor processing capacity was 23,100 tons, waste polishing powder processing capacity was 21,500 tons, and rare-earth residue treatment capacity was 0.4 million tons. At present, the annual output of neodymium-iron-boron is about 80,000 tons, and waste is only 24,000 tons at 30%; phosphor production is 0.5 million tons, waste is 30% at 0.15 million tons, and polishing powder is about 15,000 tons. From a point of view, the production capacity of rare earth recovery companies has far exceeded demand.

“At present, China’s rare earth industry has experienced an overcapacity situation that has become increasingly prominent. Companies have lost a large area and the operating rate is less than 30%. Especially under the impact of illegal companies, the entire industry has suffered fierce competition.” Reference newspaper reporter said. The above-mentioned sources frankly stated that there are currently more than 120 rare earths enterprises in China, and the annual production capacity of rare earth oxides is as high as 320,000 tons as a result of the production of equipment from foreign companies. The market supply far exceeds the world total demand of approximately 120,000 tons per year. Increases, rampant illegal companies, and weakened domestic and foreign demand have caused multiple factors that have caused the price of domestic rare earth products to plummet, and production and operations have been deteriorating.

It is worth noting that, due to rising rare earth prices and strict domestic control policies, foreign countries have accelerated the exploitation of rare earth resources so that domestic rare earths face severe competition. Many rare-earths, including Zhang Zhong, the chairman of Baotou Iron & Steel Co., Ltd., expressed concern that the domestic rare earth price will be greatly affected and the problem of overcapacity will become more serious. Statistics show that more than 200 rare earth projects have been planned for more than 200 companies in nearly 40 countries in the world. Among them, more than 40 rare earth projects in 15 countries including the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Kyrgyzstan have made rapid progress. U.S. Molybdenum's current production capacity has reached 5,000 to 6,000 tons, and will reach 40,000 tons by the end of 2013; Australia's Yarenas plant in Malaysia has successfully produced the first batch of rare earth products last year, and its annual production capacity will reach a few years later. 22,000 tons, able to meet about one-third of the global demand. After 2015, only the United States and Australia can meet the global market demand outside China.

In this regard, Ma Rongji believes that we must first resolutely crack down on the black industrial chain, introduce rare metal management regulations as soon as possible, clarify the main responsibility, establish a long-term mechanism, and regulate the behavior of rare earth production and operation. Second, as soon as possible on the comprehensive recovery of rare earth waste recycling project to clean up and rectify, combine regional planning, establish a regional recycling center, standardize the production and operation of rare earth waste processing enterprises, into the industry supervision. In addition, the use of rare earths should be strongly promoted. In particular, surplus elements such as antimony and antimony are surplus from 30,000 to 50,000 tons per year. Applications of antimony and bismuth in the fields of environmental protection and structural materials such as purified water, denitrification, catalysts, ultraviolet protection glass, rare earth cast iron, and rare earth steel should be encouraged. Rare earth magnesium, rare earth copper, rare earth aluminum and so on.