Abstract
China' s domination of the world' s magnesium industry continues to grow in both
supply and demand. There have been a number of plant closures in the West
since 1998 and the cessation of operations by Norsk Hydro in Canada in 2006
was the most recent. As a result, Chinese production accounted for 78% of
global output in 2007, followed by Russia (8%), USA (5%) and Israel (4%).
Virtually all magnesium projects outside China investigated or implemented in
the last few years, have either been abandoned or put on maintenance because
of the depression of world prices caused by burgeoning Chinese output. More
than 200ktpy of new capacity in China was due to come on stream in the
2007-2009 period. MagMetals' 72ktpy Kouilou project near Point Noire in the
Republic of the Congo appears likely to proceed, but first output is some
years off. MagMetals proposes to extract magnesium from carnallite produced as
a by-product of potash production.
The market for magnesium in China, by far the largest in the world, was about
250kt in 2007 or some 30% of global consumption. Magnesium alloy die-cast
components, particularly in the automobile industry, have become the largest
market for the metal, surpassing its use as a minor alloying addition in
aluminium (mainly for use in beverage cans). Demand for magnesium die-castings
in China doubled in 2006, and continues to show spectacular growth as private
car ownership is increasing at rates in excess of 50%py.
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