Rare earth is the general term of 17 metal elements in the chemical periodic table, including lanthanide, scandium and yttrium. There are 250 kinds of rare earth minerals in nature. Rare earth has a wide range of applications, ranging from military, industrial, agricultural, new materials, petrochemical, metallurgical and other industries to glass ceramics, mobile phones, computers, automobiles, monitors and other aspects of life.
According to the electronic layer structure and physicochemical properties of rare earth elements, their paragenesis in minerals and different ion radii, 17 kinds of rare earth elements are generally divided into light rare earth and heavy rare earth. The preparation of rare earth has to go through mineral processing, determination, decomposition, smelting, purification and other processes.
Upstream: rare earth preparation includes mining, smelting and purification of rare earth. The forms of rare earth include monazite, bastnaesite, yttrium phosphate, lanovanite, etc.; the finished products include rare earth carbonate and chloride, rare earth phosphate, mixed rare earth, etc.
Midstream: for all kinds of rare earth materials, such as rare earth permanent magnet materials, rare earth catalytic materials, rare earth hydrogen storage materials, rare earth luminescent materials, rare earth polishing materials. These materials will be added to other products according to different characteristics, such as steel, glass, ceramics, rubber, etc., and form more characteristic products, which are applied in many fields.
Downstream: rare earth is widely used, ranging from tanks, fighters, steel metallurgy, optical fiber communication and other fields to consumer electronics, catalysts, energy-saving lamps, automobiles, displays and other products.
Data source: China Commercial Industry Research Institute
The role and importance of rare earth is self-evident, and China is rich in rare earth resources, leading the global market. China is a large rare earth country, and the output of rare earth has accounted for more than 80% of the world's output for many years. At present, 98% of China's total rare earth resources are distributed in Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Sichuan, Shandong and other regions, forming a distribution pattern of North, South, East and West, with the distribution characteristics of light in the north and heavy in the south.
As a big country with rare earth resources, China has a deep distribution in rare earth industry. According to the "Research Report on the development prospects and investment of China's rare earth market in 2019" issued by China Business Industry Research Institute, there are nine rare earth development zones in China, mainly concentrated in Jiangxi Province, Guangdong Province, Sichuan Province, Gansu Province and Inner Mongolia.
Data source: China Commercial Industry Research Institute
Data source: China Commercial Industry Research Institute
For more information, please refer to the "Research Report on industry prospects and investment opportunities of China's rare earth market from 2019 to 2024" issued by China Commercial Industry Research Institute. At the same time, China Commercial Industry Research Institute also provides industrial big data, industrial planning, industrial park planning, industrial investment promotion and other solutions.