The Rare Earth market is not very prominent as compared to other commodities. However, according to some analysts “it may prove to be the most geo-politically controversial market in the future.” And once again, this is very tightly associated with China. Just yesterday, the Chinese news media proudly reported: “China becomes rare earth heavyweight” - China is now the world’s largest producer, exporter, and consumer of Rare Earth resources.

In this blog post I would attempt to briefly outline some issues of Rare Earth market.

What are the metals? This is a good presentation of Rare Earth from Rare Earth Elements

Another valuable source is Rare Earth Elements by Stephen B. Castor and James B. Hedrick that has very detailed description including world deposits, exploration and mining methods.   The situation with Rare Earth in the USA is analyzed in the report prepared by the Molycorp Minerlas, LLC. prepared for Congressional Leaders  in January 2009

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS:

The global market for rare earths consumed 126,682 metric tons of materials in 2008 and an estimated 113,610 metric tons in 2009. This is expected to increase to 175,618 metric tons in 2014, for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.1%.

Mechanical and metallurgical applications have the largest share of the market and used 42,765 metric tons of materials in 2008. This is expected to decrease to 36,770 metric tons in 2009 and increase to 56,410 metric tons in 2014, for a CAGR of 8.9%.

Glass and ceramics applications have the second-largest market share, and used 34,730 metric tons in 2008 and an estimated 32,500 metric tons in 2009. This is expected to increase at a CAGR of 8.5% to reach 48,890 metric tons in 2014.

More to follow….