How to face the skyrocketing price of rare earth

Rare earth is the main raw material of three-color phosphors in the energy-saving lamp fitting capillary, accounting for up to 75% of the raw material. The commonly used rare earth trichromatic energy-saving lamps are mainly compact in appearance, and are divided into single U, double U, triple U, single H, double H, single π, double π, and other types according to the lamp shape. Made of thin tube type. Rare earth trichromatic energy-saving lamps are not only highly efficient, but also have five to eight times longer life than incandescent lamps. The rare earth trichromatic energy-saving lamp is a new type of electric light source that is vigorously promoted and promoted by various countries in the world. In Europe, America, Japan, and other countries, rare earth tricolor fluorescent lamps have been used instead of incandescent lamps.

For some time, the topic of rare earth resources has been very sharp and lively. The national rare earth work conference that ended on the 14th came news: China will renovate rare earth industries. The policy of regulating rare earth resources led to the price increase of rare earths. The price of rare earths soared more than 10 times in a year, which may indirectly aggravate the domestic market chaos of energy-saving lamps. Phosphor increased from 300 yuan/kg to 1800 yuan/kg three months ago.... Crazy gains not only make people in the industry shy, but also make speculative profiteers crazy.

So how do domestic energy-saving lamp manufacturers face this phenomenon?

In the face of soaring prices of rare earth metals, more domestic companies have chosen to use low-cost halogen powder to produce halogen powder energy-saving lamps. Before the price increase of three-color phosphors, the proportion of phosphors accounting for the total cost of energy-saving lamps is only 10%. After the price increase, it will naturally lead to a significant increase in the cost of energy-saving lamps. In contrast, the cost of halo powder is less than one-tenth that of three-primary phosphors. Although the halogen powder lamp is also an energy-saving product compared to the incandescent lamp, the efficacy and lifespan of the energy-saving lamp using the three-color phosphor are greatly reduced.

At the same time, in the sample tests conducted by the Beijing Consumers Association, 24.37% of the initial luminous efficacy of the energy-saving lamps did not reach the actual value of the product. The main reason for the failure of the initial efficiency of the energy-saving lamp is that the phosphor uses too much halogen powder. However, the European and American markets have requirements for the light-failure standard of energy-saving lamps. At present, China's exports of energy-saving lamps to the local area, once unqualified products are found, may cause the manufacturer to enter a “black list”.

In fact, the world's proven rare earth resources are less than 100 million tons, making it a scarce and important strategic resource. The government's policy of regulating rare earth resources is also reasonable, so how should domestic energy-saving lamp companies cope?

As a "industrial vitamin," rare earths are used not only in high-tech industries, but also in a large number of daily necessities such as cell phones, computer hard disks, and monitors. Therefore, after these products are discarded, the rare earth components contained therein can be refined and used in new production. This measure may not have been widely considered in China, but as early as 1967, a Japanese company developed the “solvent extraction and separation method” and applied it to industrial production, realizing the implementation of a dozen or so elements in rare earths. Separate industrial applications. Nowadays, Japanese industry has accumulated technology of rare earth extraction and application for nearly 50 years. Now, Japanese companies have purchased large quantities of the remaining broken glass from precision instruments from China to extract rare earths from them. In the face of the rare earth crisis, Chinese enterprises must be technologically advanced and have no alternative.