The status of Chinese permanent magnet industry and R&D activities

It has been 15 years since China dominated the rare earth permanent magnet market in 2001. The annual output of sintered Nd-Fe-B magnets in China reached a new record of 126,300 tonnages in 2015 while the output in 2001 is only 6,500 tonnages. The average growth rate from 2001 to 2015 is about 23.5% though the output in 2012 suffers a deep drop due to the well known rare earth crisis in 2011. Currently, the RE magnet production capability in China seems to be over developed compared to actual requirements. Needless to say the oversupply situation implies a hard time for RE magnet manufacturers due to the fierce competition but maybe a good time for the whole industry. The motivation for a company to develop new technology and more competitive products with better performance and/or lower costs is greatly enhanced. The objective of this paper is to give a general picture of Chinese REPM industry and market including the output capability, the status of competition, the development of magnet application and the market trend. Some new research hot points potentially being applied, for example the Cerium magnet, will be introduced as well.