Recycling from e-waste to drive rare earth metals market, says new report

ALBANY (Scrap Monster): Transparency Market Research (TMR) has announced the release of a new report that analyzes the rare earth metals industry. According to the report titled “Rare Earth Metals Market – Global Industry Analysis, Applications, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2012 – 2018”, recycling of metals from electronic waste will drive the rare earth metals market. The global rare earth metals market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13% from 2012 to 2018 to touch US$8.1 billion by 2018.

Rare Earth Metals

A group of seventeen chemically similar elements including the 15 lanthanide metals, scandium and yttrium constitute rare earth metals. Rare earth metals are used extensively by many of the hi-tech electronic and electrical devices, catalytic convertors in automobiles and critical components in nuclear reactors. The relevance of rare earth elements has surged higher on increasing global demand and fears about supply reductions from China-the key supplier of rare earth metals to the world.

The report

The report by TMR analyzes the rare earth metals market based on type, application and geography.

By Type

By type, the rare earth metals market is classified into neodymium, erbium, lutetium, promethium, thulium, scandium, europium, terbium, holmium, gadolinium, dysprosium, ytterbium, praseodymium, samarium, lanthanum, yttrium, and cerium. The largest share in the rare earth metals market is held by cerium oxide. As per 2013 data, it held 40% market share. In second place was Lanthanum oxide with 23.8% market share. The market share of Lanthanum oxide has seen sharp rise during recent years, due to its increasing demand from green technology, construction, automotive, and electronics industries.

By Application

By application, the rare earth metals market is divided into catalyst, ceramics, glass, magnets, metallurgy, phosphors, and polishing. Among these, magnets hold the largest share in the rare earth metals market, both in terms of volume and revenue. The report states that applications involving metallurgy are likely to witness rapid growth during 2012-’18.

By Geography

By geography, the global rare earths metal market is segmented into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. The massive reserves of rare earth metals make China the largest market so far. China accounts for nearly 95% of the world’s rare earth metals production. It is also the largest consumer of rare earth metals. The other prominent markets for rare earth metals are the U.S., Russia, India, and Australia.

Leading market players

According to the report, the leading players in the global rare earth metals market are Molycorp, Great Western Minerals Group, Chinalco Yunnan Copper Resources Ltd., Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Co, Rare Elements Resources Ltd., Alkane Resources, Greenland Rare Earth and Energy Ltd., Lynas Corporation Ltd., Arafura Resources, Indian Rare Earths, China Rare Earth Holdings, and Avalon Rare Metals.

Challenges

Recycling rare earth elements are not that easy as recycling materials such as plastic and glass. Firstly, the elements are contained in miniscule quantities. Separation of these elements involves aggressive steps and may consume large amounts of energy. In addition, the recycling techniques could generate more environmental harm than mining.

About TMR

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company driven by high-pedigree consultants and researchers. TMR leverages its Syndicated Research, Custom Research, and Market Consulting expertise to help businesses make accurate decisions. TMR’s exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis draws on proprietary data sources and techniques, while their data repository is continuously updated to reflect the latest trends.