The End of Neodymium Cabs?

[Jimmy Stump]

Got this in my regular Club Bass email. Apologies if this has been posted before, but it took me by surprise so I thought I would share.

The End Of Neodymium Bass Speakers


China just announced a massive tax on rare earth minerals which has caused neodymium prices to double in the last week. In addition to that China is reducing export of neodymium by over 60%.
Eminence, largest speaker manufacturer in North America, has been notifying many of its clients about this news. Many speaker brands which use Neo drivers are now faced with this new huge price increase, but also shortage of materials.
Many manufacturers are now rethinking the viability of Neo based products.

What does that mean for bass players? If you want a neodymium bass cabinet you'd better get it now. Neo cabs may not exist anymore. Those that remain available will have prices substantially higher than they are now.

Then I saw this

News from the Powder Metallurgy industry :: International Powder Metallurgy Directory

China increases tax on rare earth minerals, neodymium prices double

28th Mar, 2011

China, the global leader in rare earth production, is set to impose a new tax on rare earth minerals from April 1 the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation has told rare earth producers in the country.

As reported in the Shanghai Daily, Zhang Zhong, General Manager of the Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Co, China’s leading rare earth producer, stated that the tax for mined light rare earths is to be 60 yuan ($9.15) per ton, while that of medium and heavy rare earths is to be 30 yuan ($4.6).

China currently lists rare earth minerals under the category of ordinary non-ferrous metals, whose tax rates are between 0.5 ($0.08) and 3 yuan ($0.46) per ton.

Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Co, headquartered in northern China, is currently the world's biggest producer of rare earth magnets. Zhang Zhong said the tax will increase the company's production costs by about 720 million yuan (US$109.7 million) this year.

Neodymium prices double

Zhong continued by stating that prices of rare earths have been soaring since February (2011), sometimes by 10,000 yuan per ton a day. The price of neodymium, a rare earth mineral used for making rare-earth magnets, increased to 600,000 yuan ($91,415) per ton this week (wb 21/3/11) from 300,000 yuan ($45,707) per ton at the end of 2010.
enews257

The tax is part of a series of new measures unveiled by the Chinese authorities affecting the industry. The Ministry of Environmental Protection announced earlier this month that tougher rules on emission limits for producing rare earths will take effect in October 2011.

As reported last month on ipmd.net (see here), China has already cut export quotas for rare earth minerals this year, causing concern for many industries. The shortages have resulted in new searches for rare earth mineral deposits in other regions of the world.

[colcifer]

Aw man! I was gasin' for a golight...

[dinogroovie]

Looks like an excuse to cab shopping.

[I<34080]

I'm now willing to trade off my neo 1x15 for a 4x15 with ceramics and some cash from you.

[knappymer]

Originally Posted by dinogroovie

Looks like an excuse to cab shopping.

+1 looks like I'll be getting that GK Neo412 sooner then I thought.

[GrowlerBox]

I wouldn't start panicking just yet. "Rare earths" aren't really rare in the sense of being particularly scarce -- there are plenty of known deposits, they just haven't been economical to develop while China has been exporting them so cheaply; this may soon change. Japan has been a major importer for their electronics industry, but many of the larger factories are located in the region recently affected by the earthquake and tsunami, so their demand will be decreased for a time, at least.

But hey, if you need an excuse to indulge your GAS, I'd be the last to stand in your way!

[Calaverasgrande]

I do believe that the US used to have a rare earths industry.

[billfitzmaurice]

China is cutting back on exports of the raw material, not the finished goods. The magnets have been coming from China all along. The sky is not falling. And it's spelled H-O-S-E-R.

[Clark Dark]

I guess a certain pup just increased its price too.

[NWB]

Originally Posted by Calaverasgrande

I do believe that the US used to have a rare earths industry.

It's my understanding that a mine is currently in the permitting process in CA. There are domestic sources, I think that the deposits in China are just higher grade ores.

[stflbn]

I've been hearing of this for a while now... like 6-months to a year.

The demand in other electronics is much more than bass guitar speakers IMHO.

[AwkwardLoudness]

I read an article about a year ago where some companies were doing exploration and core sampling in areas of Montana and Idaho for possible future rare earth metal mining. At that time, it was anticipated that China would be reducing exports of certain rare earth raw materials (neodymium, praseodymium, samarium) within the next couple years due to their own domestic demands. Neodymium magnets (Nd2Fe14B) are used in many electronics (computers, cell phones), certain motors, magnetic bearings, X-ray machines, and of course musical stuff (speakers and pickups).

[BurningSkies]

This is like one of those crappy urban myth emails that my coworkers like to send around...it comes up every year or so and then a couple people panic. The numbers don't seem to add up to 'the sky is falling' anytime soon.

[JimiLL]

Originally Posted by Calaverasgrande

I do believe that the US used to have a rare earths industry.

America used to have industry??!!

[seamonkey]

You know what's more rare that Neodymium?
Lead

Neo speakers and motors barely use any Neodymium - they are small powerful magnets
Just the cost of shipping offsets the cost of the price of the magnet.
This sounds like some investor scam.

[BurningSkies]

+1.

The worlds easiest most-watered down public source of info, wikipedia actually says this in the first paragraph about the element:

Although classed as a "rare earth" it is no more rare than cobalt, nickel or copper, and is widely distributed in the Earth's crust.

[JSK5String]

Wow, that sucks. Makes me glad my DIY rig with neo's is done and I'm not gassin' for anything. At least not now...

[Zoa]

Originally Posted by billfitzmaurice

And it's spelled H-O-S-E-R.

HAH!

[rpsands]

How much does the magnet actually add to the typical speaker's cost? I doubt it's more than 15%.

Even if it was 100%, the 3015LF is as good as any conventional speaker twice the price, and weighs in at 25%.

[sobie18]

Time for Flytanium to be invented...