China continues dominance of rare earths markets to 2030, says Roskill

The single largest use of rare earths is in the manufacture of permanent magnets used in wind turbines, the drive train of hybrid and electric vehicles, and energy-efficient applications, and currently accounts for 29% of total global demand for REEs, says David Merriman, an expert on rare earths at Roskill.

“As we transition to a low-carbon global economy, the demand for permanent magnets will only grow and is expected to reach about 40% of total demand for rare earths by the end of the decade,” he said.

The REEs are a group of chemically similar elements also used extensively in the aerospace, defence, and electronics industries.

According to Merriman, there are two overarching trends in rare earths markets. The first is the growth in demand from magnet applications, particularly neodymium-iron-boron magnets, which offer the highest magnetic field per unit of volume, and the second is China’s dominance of the industry.

In 2020, Chinese mines produced 110,000 tonnes of rare earths, which is more than 55% of total global mining output, he said. “Although there is expected to be a slight drop off in production to about 100,000 tonnes in 2022, production from China is forecast to remain relatively flat until the end of the decade.”

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