Analysis Of NdFeB Industry Market

Analysis Of NdFeB Industry Market

Ndfeb permanent magnet is the third generation of rare earth permanent magnet material. Since its birth in 1983, ndfeb is known as the “King of Magnet” for its excellent magnetic properties, which are widely used in modern industry and electronic technology. After 30 years of development, China ndfeb magnet industry has formed a complete industrial systems.

In 2000, China surpassed Japan to become the world’s largest producer of ndfeb magnets. From 2000 to 2015, the annual compound growth rate of ndfeb production in China reached about 25%. In the past four years, China’s ndfeb production has accounted for more than 90% of the world’s total production.

Chapter 1 Ndfeb industry overview

1.1 Industry overview

Ndfeb is a new type of permanent magnet material, which can achieve electrical signal conversion, electrical energy/mechanical energy transmission and other important functions, it is widely used in energy, transportation, machinery, medical, computer and home appliances fields.

Chart 1: Performance comparison of permanent magnetic materials

Bonded NdFeB	Sintered NdFeB	Hot Pressed NdFeB
(BH)Max MGOe	6-12	35-52	28-43
Hcj kOe	7-18	12-30	10-25
Br kGs	6-8	11-15	12-14
Working Temperature ℃	150	250	200
Advantage	Easy molding, high precision, processing and low energy consumption, No heavy rare earths	Very high energy	High energy and low processing loss can be achieved without the use of medium and heavy rare earths
Shortage	Low magnetic property, patent monopoly, low operating temperature	Contain heavy rare earth, processing loss is high	high price

Permanent magnetic material refers to the material with wide hysteresis loop, high coercivity and high remanence, which can maintain constant magnetism once magnetized.

The commonly used permanent magnet materials include metal magnets, ferrite magnets, rare earth permanent magnets and others. Rare earth permanent magnet is the latest and strongest permanent magnet material, so far three generations of products have been widely used.

The first generation is a compound composed of rare earth atoms and cobalt atoms according to 1:5, referred to as RCo5, represented by SmCo5. The second generation of rare earth permanent magnetic alloy (R2Co17) is composed of rare earth atoms and cobalt atoms in a ratio of 2:17. The third generation of rare earth – iron – boron permanent magnetic materials, mainly containing rare earth and iron group elements intermetallic compounds. It is a kind of cobalt free high performance utility model permanent magnet material, NdFeB magnet as the main representative, has become a new generation of high performance permanent magnet new material mainstream.

In 2000, the output value of rare earth permanent magnet exceeded ferrite for the first time, and in 2010, the output value of ndfeb magnet also exceeded ferrite magnet comprehensively, becoming a veritable “leading role” in the permanent magnet industry.

Analysis Of NdFeB Industry Market

1.2 Industry classification

According to the manufacturing process, ndfeb is divided into bonded, sintered and hot pressed three different products.

a. Bonded NdFeB

Bonded ndfeb has irreplaceable applications. Bonded ndfeb production method is: Mix ndfeb magnetic powder and macromolecule materials and various additives evenly, then produce by mold pressing or injection molding process. The magnetic properties of Bonded ndfeb is not as high as sintered ndfeb, but its production process is simple, low cost, small size, high precision, magnetic field uniform stability. Bonded ndfeb is irreplaceable in information technology, office automation, consumer electronics and other fields.

Chart 2: Proportion of bonded ndfeb applications

Proportion of bonded ndfeb applications

b. Sintered NdFeB

Sintered ndfeb is the most widely used rare earth permanent magnet material with the highest yield. It is made by powder metallurgy technology to make pre-fired material into micro powder, mold pressing into blank, and sintering. Its production process includes formula design, sling belt, hydrogen explosion, powder making, fine mixing, molding, sintering, grinding, finishing, surface treatment, packaging and other links. Sintered ndfeb has high magnetic energy, high Hcb and high working temperature. However, due to its big tolerance and small shape freedom, it is mainly used in large and medium-sized motors, wind turbines and high-fidelity loudspeakers.

Chart 3: Proportion of sintered ndfeb applications

Proportion of sintered ndfeb applications

c. Hot Pressed NdFeB

Hot pressed ndfeb has excellent performance but limited application. Hot pressed ndfeb is made by hot extrusion process with high magnetic properties. Compared to sintered ndfeb, hot-pressed ndfeb has advantages in control accuracy, yield, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance and cost. At present the main producers of hot pressed NdFeB include GM, DAIDO and DELTA . In China only Galaxy magnetics has the capacity to make it. The production of hot-pressed ndfeb is still small, far behind the bonded and sintered ndfeb magnets.

Chart 4: Performance comparison of 3 different NdFeB

Bonded NdFeB	Sintered NdFeB	Hot Pressed NdFeB
(BH)Max MGOe	6-12	35-52	28-43
Hcj kOe	7-18	12-30	10-25
Br kGs	6-8	11-15	12-14
Working Temperature ℃	150	250	200
Advantage	Easy molding, high precision, processing and low energy consumption, No heavy rare earths	Very high energy	High energy and low processing loss can be achieved without the use of medium and heavy rare earths
Shortage	Low magnetic property, patent monopoly, low operating temperature	Contain heavy rare earth, processing loss is high	high price