閉じる

Search

X-MINING Is there a rare-earth magnet with less price fluctuation risk? Magnet Materials

Rare earth has a price fluctuation risk and cannot be crossed for use of rare earth magnets.

User’s voice

“Neodymium iron boron magnets (NdFeB magnets: hereafter, neodymium magnets), which are high-performance rare-earth magnets, can be used to make the magnets small and strong, so we would like to proceed with designing motors using neodymium magnets. However, demand for neodymium magnets is expected to increase in EV and HEV. Therefore we concerned that rare earth magnets will be difficult to obtain, as well as in 2011, and that the price of such magnets will incrase. And we are concerned about the use of rare earth magnets because it is difficult to easily pass on the increased prices to the prices of our products.

“We have devised various designs for the magnetic circuit of the motor and have tried designs that do not use neodymium magnets such as ferrite magnets, but with ferrite magnet materials, the magnetic force is low, and there is a limitation only by devising designs, and products that meet customer needs have not been made…”

“When using existing magnet such as neodymium magnets and ferrite magnets, the structure is similar to that of other manufacturers, and it is difficult to differentiate the motor by itself, so there is no choice but to differentiate the control system.”

“Neodymium magnets have a large raw material risk, so we would like to use a strong magnet with a material with a small raw material risk, but we do not know the good material…”

In this way, there were risks associated with neodymium magnetic materials, including price hikes, and there was a challenge in securing suppliers at stable prices. As a solution to these problems, we propose Wellmax-S1/S3/S4 series-products that utilize samarium iron-nitrogen (SmFeN: “SFN: SFN” ) magnetic materials, which are the main products of Sumitomo Metal Mining’s magnet materials.

Samarium (Sm), a rare-earth element with relatively stable prices

Sumitomo Metal Mining’s SFN products use samarium (Sm), a rare-earth element that poses less risk of raw material procurement and price fluctuations. Wellmax-S1/S3/S4 series-products does not contain any neodymium (Nd) or dysprosium (Dy).

The price of rare earths has soared sharply since around 2010. This led to the start of mine development in Australia and India. Subsequently, the price of rare earths peaked in 2011 and then began to fall. However, prices of neodymium and disprosium did not return to their pre-spike levels, and remained at prices, including slight fluctuations. Producing countries continued to be weighted toward China.
Neodymium was still stable, although it was higher than its pre-soaring price between 2015 and around 2020. However, it started to rise again around November 2021, and temporarily soared to nearly three times, and is currently priced at around double. Although the political backdrop was considered to be strong against the backdrop of the surge in neodymium prices in 2011, the current surge in prices is expected to be strongly influenced by actual demand for wind power generation and EV promotion, and is not expected to return to the low-price stabilization seen since the surge in prices in 2011.

On the other hand, Sm-Oxide (samarium oxide) used in Wellmax products fluctuated at a high price, as was the case with other rare earth elements, when prices soared in 2011, but returned to prices prior to the hike around 2015. Since then, prices have remained stable at the same level as in 2022.

Samarium (Sm), a rare-earth element with relatively stable prices

Although the content is different, any of the ores contains a large number of rare earth elements. Elements in low demand are stocked in the form of solutions and oxides as intermediate products in the process of separating elements.

Sm (samarium) has not found applications where there is much demand as an industrial product other than SmCo (samarium cobalt) magnets and SmFeN magnets, and we hear that it is stocked by many producers even now, though the quantity is not fixed. For this reason, we expects both prices and supply to remain stable in the future.

Please refer to our

X-TALK Vol.6 “~Surge in the Prices of Rare Earth Magnets and the Possibility of Samarium-Iron-Nitride Magnetic Materials”

The possibility of rare-earth element Sm (samarium), which is less expensive than rare-earth magnets (neodymium magnets), is infinite.

Wellmax-S1 is SmFeN magnetic powder with 2-3μm. You can mix it into various binders. (*Class 2 hazardous materials, flammable solids)

Since Wellmax-S3/S4 is injection-molded magnets materials, you can easily realize various shapes magnets such as unevenness, ribs, and wall thickness. In addition, even if the shape is the same in appearance, the magnetic properties will change greatly if the magnetic orientation is different. So depending on how this orientation is made, you can highly concealed magnets that are differentiated from the competitors.

Features realized by Wellmax, that reduce raw material risk, and functions that enhance concealment by differentiating from competitors, can be applied in other fields. Try realizing your imagination with “Wellmax” more and more?

Related Documents

  • Wellmax™

    Bonded Magnet Materials of SMM

    Wellmax™
    INDEX
    • Features of Wellmax™
    • Higher rust resistance than NdFeB magnets
    • Reduction of Weight and Cost with Wellmax™
    • Make differentiations throught injection molding
    • Application examples of Wellmax™
  • Wellmax™-S1

    Anisotropic SmFeN (Samarium-Iron-Nitrogen) magnet powder

    Wellmax™-S1
    INDEX
    • Composition
    • Particle size distribution and SEM appearance
    • Magnetic properties and demagnetization curve
  • Wellmax™-S3 Series

    Anisotoripic SmFeN (Samarium-Iron-Nitrogen) PA12 magnet pellet for injection molding

    Wellmax™-S3 Series
    INDEX
    • Magnetic, mechanical and thermal properties
    • Demagnetization curves(with temperature dependence)
    • Magnetizing, Alignment and demagnetizing properties
    • Stability(at 80℃90%RH、120℃Dry)
    • Recomended molding conditions
  • Wellmax™-S4 Series

    Anisotropic SmFeN (Samarium-Iron-Nitrogen) mixed Ferrite PA12 magnet pellet for injection molding

    Wellmax™-S4 Series
    INDEX
    • Magnetic, mechanical and thermal properties
    • Demagnetization curves(with temperature dependence)
    • Magnetizing, Alignment and demagnetizing properties
    • Stability(at 80℃Dry)
    • Recomended molding conditions
  • Wellmax™-S5B Series

    Anisotropic NdFeB mixed SmFeN PA magnet pellet for injection molding

    Wellmax™-S5B Series
    INDEX
    • Magnetic, mechanical and thermal properties
    • Demagnetization curves(with temperature dependence)
    • Magnetizing, Alignment and demagnetizing properties
    • Stability(at 80℃ and 120℃Dry)
    • Recomended molding conditions
  • Wellmax™-S5P Series

    Anisotropic NdFeB mixed SmFeN PPS magnet pellet for injection molding

    Wellmax™-S5P Series
    INDEX
    • Magnetic, mechanical and thermal properties
    • Demagnetization curves(with temperature dependence)
    • Magnetizing, Alignment and demagnetizing properties
    • Stability(at 80℃ and 150℃Dry)
    • Recomended molding conditions

Take part in X-MINING Contact Us

Ready to get started? Contact us to talk about your requirements.
X-MINING provides updates on SMM's material products and information on participating in events. Please register.

Functions

Materials