Magnesium alloy is known as "21st century green environmental protection structural material". It has very good application performance and is currently the lightest metal structural material. It has high specific strength, high specific stiffness, good shock absorption, and the ability to withstand impact loads Large size, excellent electromagnetic shielding performance, no biological toxicity, good corrosion resistance to organic matter and alkali, and rich resources. With the continuous improvement of processing technology, the scope of application of magnesium alloys has expanded rapidly, and the market demand has continued to grow. The rapid development and expansion of the magnesium alloy strategic industry is of great significance to the development of my country's national economy and national defense technology industry.

my country's magnesium terrestrial resources account for more than 35% of the world's total proven reserves, ranking first in the world. Among them, the total amount of magnesite resources is 3.145 billion tons, and the primary and secondary ores that meet the requirements of magnesium smelting account for 78%; the proven reserves of dolomite resources are more than 4 billion tons. In 2019, the global production and sales of primary magnesium were 1 million tons, and my country's was 844,800 tons, accounting for 85% of the world's total. The rest were produced in small quantities by Russia and Israel. Domestic production is mainly distributed in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Ningxia and other places, among which 517,600 tons are in Shaanxi, 117,100 tons in Shanxi, and 58,500 tons in Ningxia. At present, about 45% of the world's primary magnesium is used to produce magnesium alloys, 70% of which are used in the automotive industry, and the remaining 20% ​​and 10% are used in 3C and military industry, building materials, and aviation aircraft and other fields.

　　Market prospects

　　In the field of transportation equipment: First, in terms of automotive applications, under the premise of using the same power and transmission system, the weight reduction of automotive wheels, covers, engine cases, battery compartments and other components is the largest incremental market for magnesium alloys . According to the statistics of German Volkswagen, every 10% reduction in the weight of a car can save 5% of fuel. For every 10 kg of magnesium alloy used, the weight of the car can be reduced by about 4 kg; Saving 1 liter of fuel can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2.5 grams, reducing annual emissions by more than 30%. More than 60 parts of foreign cars have been replaced with magnesium alloys, such as the European Passat and Audi A4, each car has reached more than 14 kg, and some cars in North America and Japan have reached 3.8 kg and 9.3 kg respectively, and some even exceed 28 kg.

　　According to my country's automobile lightweight roadmap, by 2020, 2025 and 2030, the magnesium alloys for bicycles will reach 15 kg, 25 kg and 45 kg respectively. Based on the production of 35 million vehicles in 2025 and the consumption of 25 kg of magnesium alloy per vehicle, the demand is 875,000 tons. Calculated on the basis of 45 kilograms of bicycle consumption in 2030, 1.72 million tons will be needed. In 2019, my country produced 1.3 million pure electric vehicles and 30 million small passenger vehicles. If only the cover of each vehicle is changed to 65 kg of magnesium alloy plates, 2.03 million tons will be needed. Changchun FAW, SAIC Volkswagen, Chongqing Changan Automobile and other car companies have begun to use magnesium alloys in batches. Looking forward to the future, the consumption of magnesium alloys for automobiles may usher in a blowout growth.

　　Second, in terms of rail transit, as long as rail transit reduces the weight of the car body, it can increase the payload of the train and run faster. At present, a high-speed train consisting of eight carriages has a traction force as high as 5500-8800 kilowatts, and the use of magnesium alloys to reduce weight can greatly reduce power costs. The application of magnesium alloys in foreign rail cars far exceeds that in my country. French high-speed trains use more than 45,000 magnesium alloy castings and plates. High-speed trains in Japan and South Korea also use magnesium alloy castings and plates, reducing costs by 8%-10%. my country stipulates that cities with a permanent population of more than 3 million and a financial budget of more than 10 billion yuan can develop rail transit. 43 cities across the country have opened subway or light rail train operations, and another 15 cities have formulated subway or light rail plans. In 2020, the urban rail transit mileage will reach more than 4,500 kilometers, and major cities are revising and increasing urban rail transit. According to the plan, the urban rail transit mileage planned by Chengdu alone in 2035 will reach 4,500 kilometers. Chengdu Tianzhi Lightweight Technology Co., Ltd. has supplied magnesium alloy lightweight products for subway trains in batches. The extensive use of magnesium alloy materials in rail passenger cars will also become inevitable.

　　In the fields of 3C electronic products, military industry, and building materials: Magnesium strips have begun to be used in mid-to-high-end ultra-thin, or small-sized notebook casings. Engineering plastics and carbon fibers cannot compare with this. Magnesium alloy materials are now portable The top choice for laptop cases. In addition, there are shielding layers of electronic products, and ultra-thin metal magnesium plates (foils) also tend to use magnesium alloys. The new generation of mobile communication products use a large number of hollowed out magnesium alloy frames. In terms of radiators for 4G and 5G communication base stations, there is a domestic market demand of at least 50 billion yuan. In the field of military industry, magnesium alloys have also been used in batches in mobile and portable communication equipment, individual weapons and intelligent helmets for light weapon systems, suspended outer armor plates for military vehicles, and shells for shoulder-fired missiles and rockets. In the field of wall decoration, especially in high-rise and super high-rise buildings, lightweight magnesium alloy formwork has also begun to be widely used.

　　In the field of flying aircraft and other fields: In addition to the internal frame of the aircraft structure, the skin, floor, deck, etc. are most suitable for using wide-width magnesium alloy sheets. Experimental results show that the economic benefit brought by reducing the weight of an aircraft by 1 pound is $300 for commercial aircraft, $3,000 for fighter jets, and $30,000 for spacecraft, and the overall weight reduction effect is 25%-35% higher than that of aluminum alloys. . The European Airbus company developed magnesium alloy plates as early as the last century, which is nearly 10 tons lighter than the use of aluminum alloys. my country's Xifei and Chengfei have used magnesium alloy forgings, castings and plates in the airframe for a long time. In the fields of civil aviation, general aviation, and commercial aerospace, magnesium alloys will show their talents in the future.

　　China has become a "giant" in the production of primary magnesium and a "dwarf" in the manufacture of magnesium alloys

　　At present, the trend of the world's magnesium industry is: Western countries have completely reduced the production of primary magnesium, but China continues to increase production. The United States, Germany, South Korea, Australia and Japan have regarded magnesium as an important strategic material in the 21st century, and have successively formulated their own industrialization plans for magnesium and magnesium alloys. The United States is focusing on the research of high-end manufacturing technology of magnesium alloys, and now has the world's only industrialized wide strip production line; the German government has invested heavily in the research of cutting-edge technologies such as die-casting magnesium alloys, rapid reduction and tool manufacturing; Posco and Hyundai’s three major magnesium alloy national industrial parks on the east coast jointly invested more than 50 billion US dollars. From 2016 to 2018, investment has been more than 10 billion US dollars. It is planned to develop magnesium alloy deep processing and high-value products by 2025 The field must reach the world's leading level. The high-end magnesium alloy industry has formed a complete system from basic research to applied research, to product development and terminal applications, such as high-performance wide-width magnesium alloy plates and strips, high-performance magnesium alloy extrusion profiles and precision forgings and other cutting-edge processing The technology has basically been completely monopolized, capturing more than 85% of the added value of magnesium terminal products. Even Ukraine, which has an annual output of only over 20,000 tons of primary magnesium, is at the forefront of the world in precision die-casting of key components such as aviation and aerospace, with an annual output value of 4.2 billion US dollars.

　　Although my country has the advantages of abundant resources and low cost, and has become the world's largest producer and exporter of primary magnesium for 18 consecutive years since 2003, it is a typical "giant" in the production of primary magnesium materials and a "dwarf" in the manufacture of magnesium alloys. In 2019, my country exported 451,600 tons of raw magnesium and magnesium products, with an amount of 55.36 billion yuan and an average price of 122,500 yuan/ton. The export volume accounted for 53% of the world's total output, mainly exported to the Netherlands, Canada, the United States, Japan and other countries. The country imported 410,900 tons of magnesium products, with an amount of 70.19 billion yuan and an average price of 170,800 yuan/ton.

　　After exporting and importing magnesium products, the country has a net loss of 14.83 billion yuan. In terms of magnesium precision casting and forming, although products such as extruded side wall profiles and floor guide channel profiles of the high-speed train "Fuxing" have been successfully developed and applied in batches, the production and application of magnesium alloy plates are far away. Far from meeting market demand. In the manufacturing of transportation equipment, the consumption of magnesium alloy plates and strips accounts for more than 70%. Although Shanxi Wenxi Yinguang Magnesium Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. is now the largest magnesium alloy enterprise with the most The number of plates and strips is also less than 3,000 tons; Chinalco Luoyang Company and Shandong Linyi Shuguang Casting Co., Ltd. also have very limited quantities of magnesium alloy plates, with low technical level and backward equipment; the annual output value of high-performance magnesium alloy materials in Hebi City, Henan Province is only more than 5 billion Yuan; In addition, although Ningxia Taiyang, Shanxi Changzhi, Shandong Nanshan, Chongqing Boao, Guangdong Qingmei, Fujian Kunfu, etc. have improved in processing, magnesium alloy thin plates with a width greater than 1220 mm are still blank. The purchase price of these plates is extremely expensive, such as 280,000-350,000 yuan/ton for high-strength plates for automobiles, 380,000-450,000/ton for aircraft manufacturing and defense industry plates, and the highest price is more than 30 times that of exported raw magnesium. Only Yunhai Metal and Wanfeng Aowei are listed companies with a high correlation between A shares and automotive lightweight materials (magnesium alloys).

　　On the whole, my country's large-scale magnesium alloy deep processing and high-end manufacturing level is still very low. There are 83 primary magnesium smelting enterprises above designated size. The output of the top 10 enterprises accounts for 37.7%. Most of them are micro and small enterprises, with poor industry concentration and low degree of equipment automation, far from leading the way in technology and agglomerating industries.

　　The situation that my country's raw magnesium products are exported at the price of cabbage and then imported from abroad at a huge cost should be changed as soon as possible; China's magnesium alloys need a strategic level of magnesium alloy industry planning and short-term, medium-term and long-term technical layout. It is necessary to make full use of the absolute advantages of my country's primary magnesium production in the world, plan the overall layout of primary magnesium smelting and magnesium alloy high-end product processing industries from a high starting point, and promptly introduce foreign high-end industrialization technologies and advanced processing equipment for magnesium alloys, based on Shaanxi primary magnesium Use local materials to upgrade the local magnesium alloy application industry as soon as possible, replace imports, and strive to build a strategic magnesium alloy industrial base in my country in a relatively short period of time.

　　Go all out to make the magnesium alloy industry bigger and stronger

　　In recent years, Fugu and Shenmu in Shaanxi have used raw coal gas produced by semi-coke as fuel to produce raw magnesium, forming a low-cost depression for metal magnesium smelting with unique advantages, and building a cycle of organic combination of coal chemical industry and metal magnesium production Economic industrial chain model, the output and export volume of primary magnesium have increased year after year, ranking first in the country and in the world. Among them, in 2019, the output of Fugu was 433,300 tons, and the output of Shenmu was 84,300 tons, accounting for 62% of the country's total and 52% of the world's total. Last year, the sales ratio of magnesium in China reached 49%. In the next 10 years, the average annual growth rate of domestic magnesium consumption will be more than 20%. As the largest country in the world in the production of primary magnesium, my country should firmly grasp the strategic opportunity of the rising application of magnesium alloys in the world, and go all out to make the magnesium alloy industry bigger and stronger. The following are suggested for this purpose.

　　One is to encourage the production and processing of high-performance magnesium alloys in the industry catalogue, incorporate magnesium resources, primary magnesium ingots and magnesium alloys into the country's important resource strategy, material strategy and industrial strategy, accelerate and increase investment in magnesium alloy research and development, and expand magnesium Alloy application, fully develop the magnesium alloy industry. Further accelerate the application of magnesium alloy lightweight materials in the fields of transportation equipment, 3C electronic products and military industry, building materials, and flying aircraft, and change the passive situation that magnesium alloy production and processing is controlled by others as soon as possible.

　　The second is to look at the urgency and importance of developing my country's magnesium strategic industry from the perspective of the global pattern. Some primary magnesium smelting projects in Shaanxi and Shanxi that still have certain pollution and relatively low production capacity should continue to be included in the encouraged category. Strive to provide the required technology and funds, especially in environmental protection law enforcement should not be "one size fits all" and "blunt and cold", to prevent indirectly taking away the cornerstone of the development of this strategic new industry.

　　The third is to support Shaanxi to create a world-class magnesium industrial park, and relevant departments will work together to do a good job in the planning and construction of this strategic industry. We should support and help the establishment of a magnesium industry group with a complete industrial chain, complete processing facilities, outstanding product advantages, and world-leading production capacity, speed up the introduction of advanced magnesium alloy processing and production equipment at home and abroad, occupy the commanding heights of magnesium alloy high-end deep processing technology, and take the lead in leading magnesium alloys The alloy industry is advancing to the world level.

　　Fourth, the deep processing technology and equipment of the magnesium alloy industry is a heavy asset project with huge investment and long profit cycle. It needs the relevant national departments and Shaanxi Province to jointly lead a strong promotion, fully integrate domestic magnesium alloy scientific research institutions and related technical resources, and build a "national magnesium and magnesium industry". Alloy technology research and development and product manufacturing center", building Shaanxi into a national-level large-scale high-end magnesium alloy production base and application promotion demonstration base. Promote my country to fully grasp the pricing power of the domestic and foreign magnesium metal markets, and change from an importer of high-end magnesium alloy products to an exporter.

Source: "China Investment Consulting Network"

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