Since July 2026, the rare earth industry has significantly accelerated its green and low-carbon transformation. On July 13, Northern Rare Earth officially confirmed that the first phase of its green smelting upgrade project had commenced operations, achieving full-line production integration, while construction of the second phase is progressing steadily. The project employs a new magnesium bicarbonate-based smelting and separation process for Bayan Obo rare earth ores, along with a sulfuric acid rare earthextraction technology for green separation. This reduces raw material and auxiliary costs by over 30%, as well as acid and alkali consumption.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released the fourth batch of industry standards for 2026, including nine key standards such as energy-saving diagnostics for rare earth smelting, green mining of ion-adsorption rare earths, low-carbon specifications for rare earth metal smelting, and recycling of rare earth solid waste. These are being led by leading enterprises including YTRI Rare Earth, China Rare Earth Group, and China ENFI, with implementation expected to be completed within the year.
Industry analysts believe these moves signal a continuous rise in supply-side entry barriers, accelerating the phase-out of outdated, high-energy-consuming rare earth separation and sintered magnet capacities, further consolidating market concentration among top players. Against the backdrop of policy-driven low-carbon transformation across the entire industrial chain, leading companies equipped with green smelting and zero-carbon technologies will gain differentiated pricing advantages. Downstream sectors such as wind power, energy storage, and new-energy vehicles will also gradually increase their procurement weight toward low-carbon magnetic materials.
Demand-side momentum further confirms this trend. Northern Rare Earth’s preliminary earnings report for the first half of 2026 forecasts net profit attributable to shareholders between 1.98 billion and 2.06 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year growth of 112.74% to 121.33%. The sustained release of new magnet alloy capacity and strong downstream demand have been the main drivers. On the supply side, CITIC Securities research indicates that praseodymium-neodymium oxide output declined by approximately 6% in June, while the share of recycled praseodymium-neodymium oxide in total output dropped from 44% in May to 37% in June, suggesting limited near-term supply growth. With tight supply and expanding demand, rare earth prices are expected to remain stable and moderately firm.
As the industry chain evolves toward greener and more refined processes, rare earth salt precursors—key raw materials for downstream applications such as magnets, polishing, catalysis, and electronic functional materials—are directly influenced by product consistency and advanced processing techniques, which determine end-product performance. Sichuan Wonai Rare Earth New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. specializes precisely in this segment. Since its establishment in 2012, the company has focused on R&D and production in rare earth functional materials, recognized as a “National High-Tech Enterprise” and a “Specialized, Refined, Unique, and Innovative” enterprise in Sichuan Province. It currently operates specialized production lines capable of manufacturing 15,000 tons annually of high-purity rare earth salts and 3,000 tons of precision rare earth polishing powders. Its product portfolio includes nine major categories—such as nitrates, acetates, sulfates, hydroxides, fluorides, chlorides, carbonates, polishing powders—and over 50 varieties, including zirconium salts, widely used in national defense, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, electronics, new energy, three-way catalysts, environmental protection, and precision optical polishing.
“Green smelting is not an endpoint but the starting point for upgrading the entire rare earth value chain,” said Yang Xinge, General Manager of Wonaixi Rare Earth. “We have long focused on the precision processing of niche rare earth salt products. At the 16th Baichuan Yingfu Rare Earth Industry Conference in April 2026, I delivered a keynote titled ‘An Analysis of Application Scenarios for Niche Rare Earth Salts,’ showcasing our technological expertise and comprehensive product system in this field. Our core products—including high-purity cerium nitrate, ammonium cerium nitrate, and cerium hydroxide—are widely applied in high-purity requirements such as catalyst precursors, electronic-grade etching for LCD displays, and precision optical polishing.”
“Our strategy is clear: we stay closely aligned with upstream green smelting and low-carbon standards, pushing precision to the extreme.” The company has introduced internationally advanced equipment to build a digital and intelligent production line, strictly managing the entire process from raw material procurement to product delivery under the ISO9001 quality management system. Its products hold a leading market share in China and are exported to over 20 countries, establishing stable collaborations with multiple Fortune 500 enterprises.
Looking ahead, Wonaixi stated it will continue upholding its corporate culture of “progressiveness, pragmatism, rigor, and cooperation,” continuously optimizing its product structure in response to evolving demands in high-end downstream applications. With technology at its core, quality as its lifeblood, and customers as its top priority, the company aims to position itself effectively within the wave of green and low-carbon transformation in the rare earth industry, contributing to the high-quality development of the rare earth industrial chain.
Post time: Jul-13-2026
