Raw Material Supply Crunch Looms Over the Future Growth of the Wind Energy Market

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Despite a sluggish economic scenario, the expansion of new wind energy projects has so far continued unabated. A supply shortage of key raw materials, however, may jeopardize the growth of the entire industry.

Noida,u.P, India., November 24, 2011 - (PressReleasePoint) -
Despite a sluggish economic scenario, the expansion of new wind energy projects has so far continued unabated. The worlds wind power capacity is growing at around 20%-25% and according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), is expected to reach 409 GW by 2014. This growth and outlook, however, is now beginning to have question markets – at least in the short term. A new study from IMARC Group, one of the worlds’ leading research and advisory firms entitled” The Global Rare Earth Elements Market 2011-2015: Is the Hype Justified?” finds that the latest wind turbine technologies largely depend upon three rare earth metals – Neodymium, Terbium and Dysprosium, which are projected  to face a critical supply shortage in the near future.  
 
 
Findings from the report also suggested that wind turbine manufacturers utilizing Neodymium, Terbium and Dysprosium are heavily dependent upon China for their rare earth supplies. In 2010, China accounted for 99% of the global Terbium production and 97% of both Neodymium and Dysprosium production. As a result of its increasing domestic demand, the Chinese government in recent years has significantly restricted the export of these elements. For instance, between May 2010 and August 2011, the domestic prices for Neodymium in China increased eightfold, this resulted in the Chinese government decreasing its export quota and ramping up its export taxes on rare earths, leading to sky rocketing prices and a shortage of rare earth elements for the rest of the world.
 
Supply demand projections from the report suggested that with the opening of a number of non-Chinese mines during 2011–2015, the production of the three rare earth elements will significantly increase and diversify.  Despite this increase, we expect demand of Dysprosium, Terbium and Neodymium to outpace the total supply by 71%, 10% and 9% respectively in 2015.
 
IMARC’s new report entitled “The Global Rare Earth Elements Market 2011-2015: Is the Hype Justified?” provides an analytical and statistical insight into the global rare earth elements market. The study that has been undertaken using both desk-based as well as qualitative primary research has analyzed five aspects of the rare earth elements market.
           

To buy the complete report or to get a free sample, please contact:
IMARC Group Asia
Email: apac@imarcgroup.com
Phone: +91-120-425-6531
IMARC Group North America
Email:  america@imarcgroup.com
Phone: +1-631-791-1145
To know more please visit:  http://www.imarcgroup.com/