Rare earths are vital for the tech in modern economies, but it’s the magnetic group of these elements that is the primary driver for the market at present and likely in the future.
Magnetic rare earths are used in the production of the most powerful permanent magnets found in wind turbines, electric vehicles, and tech like mobile phones. The growth in these sectors pushes the demand, this has gone from 3 percent to 4 percent a year in the past and is expected to increase to 10–12 percent a year until 2035.
Despite the name “rare,” in the geological sense rare earth minerals are more abundant than other widely used metals as copper, zinc, nickel, and lead. However, they have been listed among the most critical materials in the United States, EU, Japan, and South Korea due to the lack of efficient substitutes, their crucial importance to different sectors in the economy, and the concentration of production in a few countries.
The world’s primary production of rare earth oxides was estimated at 124,000 tons in 2015, worth about $2 billion under current prices. The magnetic group of rare earths makes up more than 80 percent of this value despite only accounting for less than a quarter in the world’s total output.
