Since 2010, the price of rare earths has continued to rise, among which rare earth phosphors have risen as much as 10 times in half a year. Rising rare earth price has a serious impact on the entire rare earth industrial chain, and the energy-saving lamp industry at the most downstream of the rare earth industrial chain has suffered the most. In order to promote the healthy development of the energy-saving lamp industry and improve the competitiveness of energy-saving lamps in the field of lighting, energy-saving lamp companies to optimize resources for reorganization, industry integration, no delay, a new round of reshuffle soon.
Rare earth phosphors occupy an important position in the energy-saving lamp industry
Energy-saving lamps occupy most of the market in the lighting field due to their high luminous efficacy, energy saving, good color rendering, and long life. The use of energy-saving lamps than ordinary incandescent lamps saving 60% -80%, long life 4-6 times; energy-saving lamps can be in the halogen powder on the basis of energy-saving 30% -50%, color rendering index increased 15% -40% The service life increased by more than 3 times.
With the global elimination of incandescent lamps, the promotion of energy-saving lamps, and the acceleration of the replacement of halogen-based fluorescent lamps, the Chinese energy-saving lamp market has developed rapidly. In 2009, the output of incandescent lamps in China was 2.73 billion. The output of fluorescent lamps [fluorescent lamps including energy-saving lamps and halogen powder fluorescent lamps] was 3.5 billion, of which, the output of energy-saving lamps was about 3 billion, accounting for more than 85% of the total output of fluorescent lamps. It is estimated that by 2013, the output of incandescent lamps in China will drop to 1.42 billion, and the proportion of energy-saving lamps in fluorescent lamps will increase to more than 92%, and the output will be nearly 7 billion, which is 2.25 times that of current energy-saving lamps.
With the expansion of the energy-saving lamp market, rare earth phosphors, which are the basic raw materials for energy-saving lamps, have seen explosive growth in market demand. From the consumption structure of rare earth phosphors in downstream industries, energy-saving lighting is the main application field of rare earth phosphors. The market size of rare earth phosphors for energy-saving lamps has gradually expanded. In 2009, China sold 6,160 tons of rare earth phosphors for energy-saving lamps, which accounted for 74.13% of total sales of rare earth phosphors. According to the National Rare Earth Phosphor and Lamps Cooperation Network, the market size of rare earth phosphors for energy-saving lamps in China will exceed 2013. 12,000 tons, an increase of 97.34% over the market demand in 2009, a compound annual growth rate of 18.52%.
Rare earth prices soared, energy saving lamp industry costs increased
Under the conduction of rare earth prices, the price of rare earth phosphors for energy-saving lamps fluctuates, which in turn directly affects the cost of raw materials for energy-saving lamps. As China reduced its export quotas for rare earths, raised the resources tax on rare earth resources, coupled with hot money speculation and intermediaries hoarding rare earths, the price of rare earths soared. Among them, the price of rare earth phosphors rose nearly tenfold in half a year.
The ratio of rare earths in raw materials for energy-saving lamps is significant, and the price of rare-earth phosphors rises, and their cost in energy-saving lamps also increases. Energy-saving lamp fittings are the main raw materials of three-color phosphors in the capillary tube, and the proportion of rare earths accounts for 75% of the raw materials. Before the price rise of three-color phosphors, phosphors accounted for only 10% of the cost of energy-saving lamps. After the phosphors increased their prices, their share in the cost of energy-saving lamps rose to 60% to 70%.
Energy-saving lamp industry is affected by the price of raw materials
The rise in raw materials has led to an increase in the price of energy-saving lamp products for end products and the loss of export price advantages of raw materials, which has led to a reduction in export orders for energy-saving lamps. Since May 2010, the growth rate of energy-saving lamps in Fujian Province has been decreasing month by month. In the last two months of 2010, it even experienced negative growth. In December, only 0.5 billion were exported during the month, a decrease of 40.1% year-on-year.
The existence of vicious competition among energy-saving lamp companies means that in order to win orders, they will not hesitate to lower the export price. In 2010, the average price of energy-saving lamps exported from Fujian Province was only US$1.1, down 12.6% from the same period of last year. In 2010, the average price of energy-saving lamps in some provinces was less than US$0.8 each.
The energy-saving lamp market appears disorderly competition, and the use of halogen powders with less than three primary-color phosphors to shoddy, affecting the overall image of China's energy-saving lamp manufacturers. European and American markets have requirements for the light-failure standards of energy-saving lamps. Once China exports energy-saving lamps to the local area, it is likely to cause the manufacturer to enter a “blacklistâ€.
In order to reduce losses, energy-saving lamp companies started to reduce production operations. Zhejiang Jingliang Lighting Appliances and other enterprises, the production workshop has been "half-open" state. And even if there are orders, then some of them can slow down.
The energy-saving lamp industry is a labor-intensive industry and has problems such as low technology level, high cost, and environmental pollution. The entry threshold for the energy-saving lamp industry is low, and some companies lack the relevant technical capabilities for product production, and do not control the final quality of the product. The market for energy-saving lamps is flooded with fake and shoddy products, and its spot check rate is as high as 50%.
Energy-saving lamps have no price advantage over ordinary lighting incandescent lamps, and they themselves encounter resistance in promotion. A 100-watt ordinary energy-saving lamp sells for 28 yuan, while the incandescent lamp with the same brightness in the market only needs 1.5 yuan or 2 yuan.
The lack of energy-saving lamp recycling system causes environmental pollution. Mercury is a necessary raw material used in energy-saving lamp tubes. The current mercury content of energy-saving lamps has generally dropped below 5 milligrams. If the energy-saving lamp after use is broken and thrown in the open air environment, it can still contaminate 1800 tons of groundwater.
Energy-saving lamp companies should realize the strategic adjustment from "manufacturing" to "creating" as soon as possible, strengthen independent research and development, and increase the company's core competitiveness and added value of products. China's energy-saving lamp companies should pay attention to product quality, strengthen brand building, form strength export brands, and set up stable export channels.
For a long time, overseas brands such as Philips and OSRAM have occupied a large market share of light source products, and domestic light source companies mainly rely on the export market. Unlike most domestic companies, which mainly use OEM (OEM) as the main method of export, Donglin Electronics, Zhejiang Sunshine, and everyone bright lighting have focused on the research and development of energy-saving lamp production for many years, forming an excellent quality brand and saving energy. Lamp products sell well in markets such as Europe and Hong Kong.
Strongly funded brand companies can vertically integrate the upstream and downstream resources of the industry chain through mergers and acquisitions to further strengthen their competitive advantage. Sunlight Lighting, Foshan Lighting, and Topstar lighting have a rare-earth tricolor fluorescent lamp factory that can withstand the impact of rising prices in the raw material market. Before everyone lighted the lighting, it was a stable export-oriented enterprise. Afterwards, it reached a strategic partnership with domestic mainstream energy-saving lamp brand Hi-Tech Lighting. By integrating upstream and downstream resources, it can respond to the market most quickly without resorting to external forces.
Bring into play a strong manufacturing capability to ensure the stability of the supply. Donglin Electronics and Zhejiang Sunshine all have large-scale production bases. The company has independently completed the production of raw lead-free glass tubes and the production of capillary tubes and rectifiers.
Summary and outlook
For the energy-saving lamp industry, this rare earth price increase is an opportunity and a challenge. With this rare earth price hike crisis, energy-saving lamp companies can conduct industry consolidation, eliminate companies that do not have core competitiveness and lack independent intellectual property rights; further raise the national standards for energy-saving lamps, raise the threshold of the energy-saving lamp industry, and achieve market purification.
LED is a new generation of light sources after the energy-saving lamps, and the market is gradually expanding. For a part of the energy-saving lamp companies that are not competitive, it is the best choice for the transition and upgrade to the field of LED lighting. The continuous decrease in the production cost of LED products will result in an annual price drop of more than 30%, which may promote the market growth of LED general lighting products. The penetration rate of LED lighting products has been increasing year by year, with 3.2% in 2010. It is expected that by 2013, the penetration rate of global LED lighting lighting is expected to reach 20%. In the LED project, China's leading lighting company Sunshine Lighting announced plans to invest about 1 billion yuan this year to develop its LED business.
For the government, the rise in rare earth prices is the result of the government's regulation of rare earths as a strategic resource. However, from the perspective of the health of the lighting industry's industrial chain, the government should appropriately intervene in the price of phosphors and increase subsidies for energy-saving lamps. The government should introduce phosphors to guide prices, and orderly regulate and develop the energy-saving lamp industry from the policy level. The state has increased financial subsidies for energy-saving lamps and effectively guided the development of the domestic and international energy-saving lamps market.
Tengqiang Electronics Co.Ltd , http://www.xingdaele.com