Low-carbon green smelting promotes high-quality development of magnesium industry

[notice] 2021 SMM South China Nonferrous Metals Industry Annual meeting will be held in Guangzhou!

As China's economy has entered a stage of high-quality development, the national supply-side structural reform has been further deepened, and the implementation of the "double carbon" goal has put forward new requirements for industrial development. The uncertainty of the external environment has increased, trade wars, COVID-19 epidemic and other emergencies have occurred from time to time, the development environment of the non-ferrous metals industry has undergone profound changes, the development of the magnesium industry has also encountered unprecedented changes, ushering in new opportunities and challenges.

Steady Development of magnesium Industry in China

Significant increase in international influence

The output of raw magnesium increases steadily.

According to statistics, in 2020, the global output of raw magnesium is 1.12 million tons, while that of China is 961000 tons, accounting for about 86% of the total global output.

With the deepening of the adjustment of industrial structure, the production of raw magnesium in China has gradually transferred to the areas with energy advantages, and shows the characteristics of regionalization and clustering. At present, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province and Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province are the main supply bases of raw magnesium in China. In 2020, the above-mentioned areas produced 806000 tons of raw magnesium, accounting for about 83.8 per cent of the country's total output.

Raw magnesium consumption increases and exports decline

China is the original magnesium consumer country in the world. as the lightest structural material in practical application, magnesium ushered in a rare period of development opportunity. China's magnesium consumption has maintained a good growth trend, with an average annual growth rate of about 9%. Although the overall growth trend is maintained, it hovers from time to time, and the total amount is still less than 200000 tons. The expansion of processing application will be the top priority of the development of magnesium industry in the future.

According to statistics, in 2020, China's original magnesium consumption was 541300 tons, an increase of 30% compared with 417500 tons in 2017, of which 155700 tons were used for processed materials, an increase of 10% compared with 141900 tons in 2017, but slightly lower than in 2019.

With the development of application and the growth of domestic consumption, the export of magnesium products in China shows a downward trend, and the degree of export dependence decreases significantly. According to statistics, in 2020, China exported 393800 tons of magnesium products, a decrease of 14.4% compared with 460200 tons in 2017, and the degree of export dependence also decreased from 50.4% in 2017 to 41%.

State support

Further optimization of the development environment

In recent years, the state has issued a series of industrial policies, industry planning, guidance documents and so on, and the magnesium industry has been focused on and supported.

In April, the Chinese Society of Automotive Engineering released the Annual Evaluation report 2019 on the Roadmap of Energy Saving and New Energy vehicle Technology. According to the roadmap, the application of magnesium alloy materials in Chinese automobiles will be vigorously promoted. The specific target of magnesium consumption per bike is to reach 15kg in 2020, 25kg in 2025 and 45kg in 2030.

On November 2, 2020, the General Office of the State Council formally issued the Development Plan of New Energy vehicle Industry (2021-2035). By 2025, the average power consumption of pure electric passenger vehicles will be reduced to 12 kWh / 100 km, and the sales of new energy vehicles will reach about 20% of the total sales of new cars. The lightweight of new energy vehicles can enable the battery to maintain longer range, and the advantage of magnesium in lightweight makes it more possible to achieve this goal.

Application expansion

New progress has been made in various fields

In the field of transportation, magnesium alloys are applied in batches. The large thin-walled magnesium alloy parts and dashboard frames of Zhejiang Wanfeng magnesium Redding New material Technology Co., Ltd. have been supplied in bulk in many new energy models such as Ulai. The forged magnesium alloy wheels of Zhejiang Wanfeng Aowei Steam Turbine Co., Ltd. Dewei Technology Co., Ltd. are used in small-scale refitted vehicles, and are expected to be used in large quantities in the whole vehicle. The magnesium alloy subframe project jointly participated by Shanghai Jiaotong University, Dongfeng Automobile and Tianzheng Mould Co., Ltd. has been successfully developed, which has laid a good foundation for the next real application.

Wenxi Yinguang Group has successfully loaded more than 160 high-speed rail vehicles with magnesium alloy precision extrusion profiles. at the same time, the company's "structural and functional integration of magnesium alloy and the key technology and application of extrusion forming" won the first prize of technological invention in Chongqing. it is of great significance to promote the lightweight of rail transit and expand the application of magnesium alloy in the field of rail transit.

In the field of aerospace, the application of magnesium alloy is further expanded. Shanghai Light Alloy Precision forming National Engineering Research Center Co., Ltd. has successfully developed the key complex load-bearing components of the helicopter by applying new high-performance light magnesium-rare earth alloy materials, filling in the blank of the new generation of high-strength and heat-resistant magnesium alloy materials for helicopters in China, reducing weight by more than 30%. The high-strength magnesium alloy inertial group support developed by the Institute of Metals, Chinese Academy of Sciences is used in carrier rockets. The ultra-light mg-Li alloy products independently developed by Zhengzhou Light Research successfully assisted the Chang 11 rocket, long March 6 and long March 8 carrier rockets, successfully completed the launch mission, achieved a weight reduction effect of up to 45%, and greatly increased the effective load of the satellite itself. Xi'an Jiaotong University and Xi'an Sifang Ultra Light material Co., Ltd. jointly developed a new type of magnesium-lithium alloy for Tianmen-1 detector.

In the medical field, the application of magnesium alloy has entered a new stage. The 863 project "Research and Development of New controllable degradable magnesium Alloy Materials for Bone repair" undertaken by Shanghai Jiaotong University and other units has passed technical acceptance. China's fully degraded high-performance magnesium alloy materials for bone repair with independent intellectual property rights have achieved "uniform and controllable degradation" in vivo, and large-scale production and supply have been realized. The biodegradable magnesium bone internal fixation screw developed by Yi'an Technology Co., Ltd. has been officially certified by the European Union CE.

Industrial clusters highlight

The backbone of the industry emerges

With the deepening of industrial structure adjustment, China has formed a magnesium smelting industry cluster centered on Shaanxi Fugu and Shanxi Wenxi, and has become the most important magnesium smelting base in the world. At the same time, after years of development and precipitation, China's magnesium industry has also given birth to a number of industry leaders with obvious characteristics.

Wenxi Yinguang magnesium Co., Ltd., based on smelting, is committed to extending downstream and building a complete industrial chain from smelting-processing-application. It is the single enterprise with the most complete categories of magnesium processing in China.

After the successful acquisition of Canadian magnesium Reading, Zhejiang Wanfeng Aowei Steam Turbine Co., Ltd. has achieved good integration and development, and has become the most important magnesium alloy supplier in the automotive industry in the world.

Nanjing Yunhai Special Metals Co., Ltd. has significantly enhanced its strength and industry influence through the introduction of investors, mergers and other ways. In 2018, Yunhai Metal introduced China Baowu, a large domestic state-owned enterprise, by way of share transfer. in 2019, Yunhai Metal invested 235 million yuan to acquire a 100% stake in Chongqing Boao magnesium-Aluminum Metal Manufacturing Co., Ltd., so as to enhance the overall strength of Yunhai Metallic. Improve the layout of the deep processing field.

The scale of the industry is on the small side.

The ability to resist risks is weak.

In recent years, China's magnesium industry has made considerable development, and the strength of the industry has been effectively strengthened. However, the magnesium industry is an emerging industry, which is still in the initial stage of development, and there are many problems and deficiencies.

The most obvious problem is that the overall magnesium industry in China is still small, and the global magnesium consumption is still hovering around 1 million tons, which is not commensurate with the excellent characteristics of magnesium materials. One of the problems brought about by small scale is the poor ability to resist market risks, and prices are prone to ups and downs. I can still remember the sharp rise and fall of prices in 2008, and the price fluctuations in 2021 are even more unprecedented. the price of magnesium has soared from 14000 yuan / ton at the beginning of the year to an all-time high of 70, 000 yuan / ton, an increase of more than 500%. What is more serious is that since September, prices have increased by more than 30,000 yuan / ton in a single month, with a daily maximum increase of nearly 20,000 yuan / ton, although the sharp rise is mainly due to the rise in raw material prices and the total suspension of production in Fugu area, a policy of double control of energy consumption. But the damage to the industry is incalculable. Therefore, the magnesium industry still needs to develop and grow, at the same time, it is necessary to introduce futures and other tools to reasonably avoid market risks.

In the future, in the face of the complicated international environment, the magnesium industry should focus on "green smelting, improving performance and expanding application" to continuously promote the high-quality development of the magnesium industry. To realize green smelting, first, it is necessary to fully meet the overall requirements of carbon peak carbon neutralization, upgrade the existing smelting technology, improve the level of mechanization and automation, thoroughly improve the working conditions, and create conditions to realize intelligence. rational disposal of waste residue to achieve reduction, resources; second, it is necessary to carefully select new technologies for pilot test and industrialization to promote the innovation of magnesium smelting technology. Expand the application, completely break away from the pattern of hovering in the scale of 1 million tons. First, we should cultivate and establish R & D centers to promote the incubation and industrialization of key technologies; second, we should highlight key points, grasp key products, and achieve breakthroughs on a point-by-point basis; and third, we should give full play to the leading role of backbone enterprises, cultivate and develop industrial bases, and realize the cluster development of the industry.