Analysis of the current situation and characteristics of neodymium iron boron permanent magnet materials industry

1. Overview of Rare Earth Permanent Magnet Materials Industry
Related report: Beijing Puhua Youce Information Consulting Co., Ltd. "Analysis of Development Strategy and Investment Prospect Prediction Evaluation Report for Neodymium Iron Boron Permanent Magnet Materials Industry"
Rare earths refer to the lanthanide elements in the periodic table, including lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), lutetium (Lu), as well as two elements closely related to the 15 lanthanide elements, scandium (Sc) and yttrium (Y), totaling 17 elements.
Rare earth permanent magnet materials refer to magnetic materials made from alloys formed by rare earth metals and transition group metals through certain processes. They are widely used in various industries such as computers, automobiles, instruments, meters, household appliances, petrochemicals, healthcare, aerospace, etc., which require the generation of strong gap magnetic fields in various micro special machines, nuclear magnetic resonance equipment, electrical components, magnetic separation equipment, magnetic machinery, magnetic therapy instruments, etc.
Neodymium iron boron permanent magnet material is a rare earth iron-based permanent magnet material represented by neodymium iron boron (Nd-Fe-B). NdFeB permanent magnet materials can be divided into two types depending on the production process: sintering and bonding. The sintered neodymium iron boron permanent magnet adopts powder metallurgy technology. The melted alloy is made into powder and pressed into a compact in a magnetic field. The compact is sintered in an inert gas or vacuum to achieve densification. In order to improve the coercivity of the magnet, aging heat treatment is usually required. The bonded neodymium iron boron permanent magnet material is formed by mixing neodymium iron boron permanent magnet powder with resin and pressing it in a magnetic field.
Compared with other permanent magnetic materials, neodymium iron boron permanent magnetic materials have the characteristics of high remanence, high magnetic energy product, and high intrinsic coercivity, making them the strongest magnetic materials discovered in the world. Meanwhile, neodymium iron boron permanent magnet materials have good mechanical properties, easy processing, high yield, and can be magnetized after assembly.
High performance neodymium iron boron permanent magnet material is a new type of magnetic material, belonging to the rare earth permanent magnet material industry. According to the definition in the "China High tech Product Catalog 2006", high-performance neodymium iron boron permanent magnet materials are made by the rapid solidification spinning method and are sintered neodymium iron boron permanent magnet materials with an intrinsic coercivity Hcj (KOe) and a large magnetic energy product (BH) max (MGOe) greater than 60. The performance of high-performance neodymium iron boron permanent magnet materials is mainly characterized by parameters such as coercivity, remanence, large magnetic energy product, and high operating temperature.
2. Development history of neodymium iron boron permanent magnet materials
Since its birth in 1983, neodymium iron boron permanent magnet materials have been highly valued by magnetic societies and magnetic material workers around the world. People have conducted extensive and in-depth research on their crystal structure, microstructure, manufacturing process, and other aspects.
At present, Japanese companies are leaders in the global high-performance neodymium iron boron permanent magnet material industry, among which Hitachi NEOMAX is the world's largest manufacturer of high-performance neodymium iron boron permanent magnet materials. Its developed high-performance neodymium iron boron permanent magnet material has a magnetic energy product of 59.5MGOe (Br=15.55kGs, HcJ=8.2kOe), which is the sintered neodymium iron boron permanent magnet with high magnetic energy water level reported internationally so far. VAC, a German company, has developed high-performance neodymium iron boron permanent magnet materials with a magnetic energy product of 56.7MGOe (Br=15.19kgs, HcJ=9.8kOe) through continuous improvement of production processes and adoption of new metals. Chinese high-performance neodymium iron boron permanent magnet material production enterprises have introduced advanced foreign equipment and independently innovated production processes, and their product performance has also reached the international advanced level.
3. The industrial chain of rare earth permanent magnet materials
The upstream of the rare earth industry is the development of rare earth resources, which involves obtaining rare earth ores, rare earth concentrates, rare earth sulfate, rare earth chlorate, etc. through exploration and mining; The midstream of the rare earth industry is the smelting and processing of rare earths, which produces applied materials such as rare earth oxides, rare earth compounds, and single rare earth metals; The downstream of the rare earth industry is the production of rare earth application products, such as rare earth permanent magnet materials, rare earth luminescent materials, rare earth hydrogen storage materials, rare earth additives, rare earth catalysts, etc.
4. Industry market size
Rare earth is an important non renewable natural resource with a wide range of applications in economic and social development. China is one of the countries with abundant rare earth resources. Since the 1950s, China's rare earth industry has made great progress. After years of effort, China has become the world's largest producer, exporter, and user of rare earths. China's rare earth production has remained the world's top since 1985, accounting for over 80% of the total production since 1998. In 2015, the production was 105000 tons, accounting for 85% of the global total.
There are over 200 neodymium iron boron production enterprises in China, mainly distributed in the Jiangsu Zhejiang region, Beijing Tianjin region, and Shanxi region; The production capacity of neodymium iron boron blanks in China exceeds 300000 tons, most of which are in the mid to low end, and the utilization rate of mid to low end production capacity is less than 50%; High end neodymium iron boron, with a domestic raw material production capacity of over 30000 tons. Due to the increasingly widespread application and broad market prospects of neodymium iron boron, many investments have entered the neodymium iron boron industry in recent years and have formed a considerable scale. According to statistics from China Ferroalloy Online, by the end of 2014, there were 4 neodymium iron boron enterprises with an annual output of over 5000 tons, and about 5 enterprises with an annual output of 3000 to 5000 tons.
5. Characteristics of neodymium iron boron permanent magnet materials industry
The periodicity of the high-performance neodymium iron boron permanent magnet material industry fluctuates with the fluctuations of downstream industries. Although the development cycles of downstream industries are not the same, they generally fluctuate with the fluctuations of economic cycles. Due to downstream new energy and energy conservation and environmental protection being key industries encouraged and supported by China's industrial policies, the high-performance neodymium iron boron permanent magnet material industry will maintain high-speed development for a considerable period of time in the future. Therefore, the impact of economic cycle fluctuations on the industry is not significant