A short while ago, we presented a news story detailing how the Chinese magnesium industry was edging closer and closer to a full-on shut down due to a spike in demand it couldn't compensate for. Well, that predicted shortage has now arrived, and it has implications for the entire auto industry at large.
The world’s largest automakers could face a potentially crippling aluminum shortage as China’s energy crisis threatens supplies of a key component used to make the lightweight metal.
Magnesium is an essential raw material for the production of aluminum alloys, which are used in everything from gearboxes to steering columns, seat frames and fuel tank caps.
Due to production cuts in China, which has a near monopoly on the magnesium market, stocks of the metal are being dangerously depleted across Europe.
New cathode, electrolyte allow high-power battery previously considered impossible. Researchers have reported a breakthrough in the development of magnesium batteries, allowing them to operate at room temperature and deliver a power density comparable to that of lithium-ion batteries.
A critical element in everything from engines to bodies is in short supply. When you get into your car in the morning, you probably aren’t thinking about what materials actually go into its construction…. Sure, you might have considered the sheer number of semiconductors powering all the gadgets that come with modern cars, but the actual metal structure of your car likely hasn’t had that much of an impact on you. Now, it may have an impact on the entire industry. A global shortage of magnesium could result in a near-total shutdown of the auto industry — one that experts say could come by the end of this year.
This week, the largest US producer of aluminum billet used to make automobiles and building supplies told customers and business associates that output capacity might be curtailed in 2022 due to a lack of magnesium supply.
People have been talking about bringing jobs to Deming for years, and it never gets done. There is a new opportunity for Deming that has been in the works for some years now. American Magnesium has been trying to bring well-paying jobs right here to Luna County, hiring Luna County residents at the excavation site and hauling the rock.
New cathode, electrolyte allow high-power battery previously considered impossible.
Source: University of Houston
Summary: Researchers have reported a breakthrough in the development of magnesium batteries, allowing them to operate at room temperature and deliver a power density comparable to that of lithium-ion batteries.
Interior Releases 2018’s Final List of 35 Minerals Deemed Critical to U.S. National Security and the Economy.
The Department of the Interior today published a list of 35 mineral commodities considered critical to the economic and national security of the United States. This list will be the initial focus of a multi-agency strategy due in August this year to implement President Donald J. Trump's Executive Order to break America's dependence on foreign minerals.
Magnesium, used in furnace linings for manufacturing steel and ceramics.
Prototyping Materials and Processes for Automotive Light weighting
Pros & Cons of Advanced Lightweight Materials
Light weight magnesium requires far less energy during the entire die cast production process and designs can be far more elaborate without sacrificing strength. Tolerances are tighter and the fit and finish in the final product is vastly superior.
Magnesium
What Is Magnesium and Where Do I Use It? Magnesium (chemical symbol Mg) is the eighth most abundant metal comprising 2.1% of the earth’s surface. Magnesium is a metal which does not occur in its elemental form in nature but is found in different forms in minerals (dolomite, magnesite, carnallite) as well as in seawater and brines.
Magnesium: The Light Metal with Solid Industrial Markets and Great Future Potential.
Global growth in the magnesium market is expected to average 3.4%py reaching almost 1.2Mtpy by 2020.