RARE-EARTH INDUSTRY UPDATE

A review of the key facts that marked the rare earth industry in the past two years is reported. More and more ionic concentrates coming from China are used preferentially by the Japanese, thus creating a tight situation for cerium. Chinese industries continue to export increasing quantities of both ionic concentrates and finished products at prices below profitability. As a consequence of this war between Chinese manufacturers most of the RE producers are losing money. Despite this situation, some newcomers from various countries have appeared in the business. A view of the main applications per country is also analyzed. The structure of the applications distribution is more or less, linked to the degree of industrial development. The trend of existing applications and the potential of some new ones are also discussed.