- China's rare earths industry is entering a process of...

- China's rare earths industry is entering a process of rationalization and consolidation. From a current base of as many as 200 companies involved with mining and processing of rare earths, this consolidation process may ultimately result in a reduction to just 10 major companies. This will address the excess capacity within China's rare earths industry, as well as help tackle illegal mining and inefficient, environmentally damaging production practices.

- China accounted for about 95% of the global supply of rare earths in 2012. This is set to fall steadily, to around 60% by 2020, as new non-Chinese production of rare earths comes onstream, with Molycorp Inc of the USA and Lynas Corp of Australia already starting up the first phases of their rare earths production.


- The largest market for rare earths is permanent magnets, primarily neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) types but also samarium cobalt magnets. This industry consumed over 28,000 tonnes of rare earths in 2013, with wind energy and electric vehicles being the main drivers; this is set to grow by 8.5% a year to 2017. Other end user markets include batteries, catalysts, phosphors, glass additives and ceramics.