On 25-26 April 2024, Asian Metal held 15th Rare Earth Summit successfully in Sanya, Hainan province of China. The summit contained topics of analysis on mid-long term demand for rare earths and resources supply, Lynas performance& PrNd supply and demand analysis, analysis of current situation of NdFeB magnet, SmCo magnet and rare earth catalyst industries, summarize of rare earth fluoride, new progress of industrialization of scandium-based new material, development status of rare earth renewable resources, outlook of Indian rare earth market, overview and key challenges of North American rare earth market and introduction of rare earth resources development in Laos. More than 200 representatives from China, Malaysia, Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Germany, Austria, France, United Kingdom, Russia and United States, ect., participated the summit and exchanged ideas and share inspiration.

The summit started at 9:00 a.m. of 25 April 2023. Mr. Zhan Su, the Rare Earth Industry Analyst of Asian Metal, chaired the summit. Mr. Qunli Liu, Director of Basic Mineral Strategy Research Office, Research Center for Strategy of Global Mineral Resources, CAGS, delivered a speech and analyzed the mid-long term demand for rare earths and resources supply. According to Mr. Liu, the current mainstream application fields of rare earth include magnet, hydrogen storage material, laser materials, rare earth polishing powder, luminescent materials, agriculture, textile and other light industries, metallurgy, petrochemical, glass and ceramics industries. In 2023, China owned 44 million tons of rare earth reserves, accounting for 35.1% of the total global reserves. In 2023, Vietnam, Brazil, Russia, India and Australia had 22 million tons, 21 million tons, 21 millions, 6.9 million tons, 4.2 million tons of rare earth reserves respectively with proportions of 17.5%, 16.7%, 16.7%, 5.5%, 3.3% of the total global reserves. Other countries accounted 5% of the total global reserves. China’s rare earth consumption volume accounted for 79% of the total global consumption in 2023. Japan’s consumption reached the peak in 2007 and since then remained steady with downward trends. In 2023 its consumption ranked the world’s second largest. United States’ annual rare earth consumption volume hovered at around 10,000t in recent years.

Afterwards, Mr. Deqin Xu, General Manager of Magnetic Materials Division of Fujian Golden Dragon Rare Earth Co., Ltd. introduced the “Status and Prospect of NdFeB Magnet Industry”. Mr. Xu explained generation of magnet, classification of magnet, basic application of magnet, development and characteristics of permanent magnet materials, requirements for permanent magnet in different application scenarios, cost composition of rare earth permanent magnet materials, demand and development trend of NdFeB magnet, the competitive pattern of NdFeB manet and the impact of NdFeB magnet development on rare earth raw material demand, etc.

Whereafter, Ms. Mingfang Zeng, Deputy General Manager of Ganzhou Chenguang Rare Earths New Material Co., Ltd. gave a speech “Rare Earth Recyclable Resources, Green Circular Economy”. Ms. Zeng noted that current main source of rare earth recyclable resources are rare earth waste generated during the production process of rare earth metal plants (molten salt slag pre-consumer waste), NdFeB waste generated during the production process of NdFeB industry (pre-consumer waste) and scrap magnet dismantling materials (post-consumer waste). The development of rare earth recyclable resources could reduce dependence on raw ore resources, effectively alleviate the contradiction between supply and demand and promote green and low-carbon development. It also could reach a win-win situation for energy efficiency and the environment. According to Ms. Zeng, rare earth recyclable recycling companies expanded their production capacities in large scales from 2022 to 2024, with the total capacity growing from previously about 60,000t (REO) to current 90,000t (REO). But restricted by insufficient supply of scraps and lasting inversion between their prices and oxide prices, many plants are in half production suspension or out of production.

After the tea break, Mr. Bart Udeshi, Managing Director of Metals Range delivered a speech on the topic of “Shaping the Future: India's Rare Earth Metal Marvel”. Mr. Bart disclosed that India owns 6% of the world's rare earth reserves but its output only accounts for 1% of the global output. Indian rare earth reserves are rich in lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, praseodymium and samarium, etc. It’s impossible to extract dysprosium, terbium, europium and other heavy rare earth elements from rare earth deposits in India. As per the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020, the import of ores and concentrates of rare earth metals and of rare earth oxides including rutile sand are permitted freely. Following the strengthening of urbanization, the demand for magnet from household appliances, transportation and infrastructure industries in India increases continuously. The dependence of India's healthcare sector on high-end medical imaging equipment and diagnostic systems made of magnet is increasingly. The development of India's green technology industry will promote the development of NdFeB magnet industry. The compound annual growth rate of India's rare earth NdFeB magnet market in 2022-2029 will reach around 7.8%.

Later, Mr. Melvin Hill, Vice President of GE Chaplin Inc. expounded the North American Rare Earth Market Overview and Key Challenges. According to him, the current mixed rare earth concentrate annual output reaches around 42,000t. North American’s rare earth oxide production capacity increased sharply in 2023 and the capacity would climb to more than 45,000t till 2028. US Government continues to commit significant resources to shore up domestic rare earth supply chain. But the North American rare earth market still faces challenges, including insufficient rare earth concentrate supply and slow demand growth. MP Material is the only rare earth concentrate producer in United States and its output accounts for majority of rare earth concentrate production in North American market. It’s hard for other miners to start production with big volume in the short term. Short - medium term light rare earth oxide production capacity will outpace domestic demand. North America rare earth oxide suppliers must to seek demand from overseas.

Afterwards, Dongyu Lu, Company Director, General Manager, Deputy Secretary of Company Party Committee of MCC Ramu New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. shared the new progress of industrialization of scandium-based new material. He claims that the world's scandium reserves are approximately 2 million tons and mainly distributed in China, Russia, Ukraine, United States, Canada, Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, Madagascar, Norway, the Philippines and Greece, ect. China owns around 650,000 tons of scandium resources, accounting for 33% of the world’s total resources. Scandium is listed as one of the key strategic minerals by developed countries and regions such as the U.S., EU, Japan, Canada, and Australia. The major application fields of scandium include fuel cell，laser crystal, scandium sodium halogen lamp and aluminum scandium/magnesium scandium alloy industries.

The first speaker in the afternoon is Ms. Yan Guo, Deputy General Manager of NingBo NingGang Permanent Magnetic Materials Co., Ltd. Her topic is “Status Quo of SmCo Magnet Market”. According to her, the current annual SmCo magnet demand is 3,500t, while the current SmCo magnet production capacity already climbs to 6,000t. The market is oversupplied. Chinese SmCo magnet producers mainly locate in Zhejiang and Sichuan provinces with production capacities of 3,000t and 1,500t respectively. Producers in other provinces own a total production capacity of 1,500t. SmCo magnet is mainly applied into new energy vehicles, rail transit, 5G communications, high-speed motors and other industries. New energy vehicle industry will become the growth point of SmCo magnet demand. With the incubation and rise of a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation worldwide, sintered SmCo permanent magnet, a key functional material supporting industrial transformation, is expected to overcome troubles caused by overcapacity and usher in new development opportunities in the future.

Soon afterwards, Mr. Wayne Park, General Manager of Sales &Marketing of Lynas Rare Earths introduced Lynas performance and analyzed PrNd supply and demand. According to him, in the first half year of FY2024, Lynas Rare Earths’ sales revenue reached USD234.8 million with net profit after taxes of USD39.5 million. Lynas Malaysia works to enlarge their PrNd annual production capacity into 10,500t. He disclosed that PrNd products demand in 2023 climbed by 45% compared with those in 2019. China's magnet global market share exceeds 90%. China exported 52,660t of magnet in 2023. Magnet projects outside of China and Japan are developing but not sufficient. The magnet demand growth is expected to hover at 6-8% in the coming years. Markets of PrNd related products witnessed balance between demand and supply before 2022 but saw oversupply in 2023, which resulted in low prices in the markets.

Whereafter, Mr. Yanping Yang, Deputy General Manager of Fujian Zhangping Jiuding Fluorine Chemicals Co., Ltd. gave a speech on the topic of “Rare Earth Fluoride Production Techniques & Market Forecast”. Mr. Yang revealed that the production of rare earth fluoride can be divided into wet fluorination and dry fluorination. Several traditional wet fluorination technologies own different advantages, but have the same biggest disadvantage of the generation of large amount of mother liquor, which needs to be treated and discharged. Based on many years of optimization research on the traditional dry rare earth fluoride preparation method, we found that the traditional static dry fluorination technology has achieved better results. Through the continuous research and development of China's rare earth elites, Chinese smelting technology has advanced rapidly and is at the forefront globally. The addition of fluoride in smelting has also been reduced. Taking the production of PrNd mischmetal as example, major Chinese smelters’ consumption of fluoride has dropped year by year by upgrading smelting furnaces, stabilizing furnace temperature control and dust collection improvements in exhaust fumes, from about 7% of a few years ago to current around 5%.

Afterwards, Mr. Zongbo Shi, Deputy General Manager of Rezel Catalysts Corporation shared “The Application Status and Prospects of Rare Earths in the Field of Catalysis”. He claimed that the current annual sales of rare earth catalytic materials reach around 440 million US dollars, accounting for 5% of the entire rare earth functional materials market. The compound annual growth rate of rare Earth catalytic materials was around 5% over the past years. Current rare earth catalysts mainly include petroleum cracking catalysis, environmental catalysis, environmental catalysis, electrocatalysis, heterogeneous photocatalysis, fine chemical catalysts, biomass conversion catalysts and catalysts for new energy. Looking into the future, the addition, decoration, and modification with rare earth elements will become important means for developing new catalytic materials containing rare earth elements.

The last speaker of the summit was Mr. Yang Wang, Deputy General Manager of Supply Chain Operations Department III, C&D Logistics Group Co., Ltd. He introduced the rare earth resources and development in Laos. According to him, the climate, topography and geomorphological characteristics play decisive roles in the formation of ion-adsorptive rare earth ores in the weathering crust. In terms of climate, the tropical monsoon climate in Laos causes strong rock weathering, which is conducive to the formation of weathering crust. In terms of geology, Laos is located at the junction of geological structural belt, with complex geological structure, mountains and hills with more granite distribution, and the granite outcropping areas have great mineralization potential. In terms of metallogenic types, ion-adsorptive rare earth ores are mainly distributed in the weathered crust of medium-acid granite, and a few are distributed in the weathered crust of volcanic rocks and metamorphic rocks. Rare earth ores in Laos mainly occur in the weathering crust of fourth series of granite, similar to ion-adsorptive rare earth ores in southern China. In terms of partition, whether from the perspective of praseodymium, neodymium, dysprosium and terbium element content or from the perspective of europium yttrium element content, the partition of rare earth ores in Laos is similar to that of ion-type rare earth ores in southern China. The exploration level of rare earth in Laos is relatively low. Currently, the proven rare earth ore resources are mainly distributed in the northern provinces of Xieng Khouang and Huaphan. The total confirmed rare earth resource reserves (equivalent to REO) in the two provinces are about 600,000 tons. With the deepening of exploration work, there is still a great potential for increasing reserves in the future. More than 30 exploration and mining projects in Laos have been submitted for review, 18 have been approved, and about 10 have export records. The production of rare earth ores in Laos in 2023 was conservatively estimated at 12,000 tons. Almost all of them entered the Chinese market.

The banquet started at 18: 00 p.m. of 26 April 2024. The dinner was full of happiness and joy. Following with the joy and laughter, Asian Metal’s the 15th Rare Earth Summit got successful conclusion. Representatives exchanged ideas, pooled efforts, meet new friends and explored new business opportunities during this summit. Asian Metal has successfully held rare earth summits over the past years, which received great support and cooperation from participants. We would like to express our sincere thanks to you! Asian Metal will continue to uphold the assiduous professional spirit and to make persistent efforts to provide authoritative and accurate market information about metals and value summits. Let’s reunite in the 16th Rare Earth Summit!