Rising rare earth prices are having a significant impact on the production of catalysts used in oil refineries to extract petroleum products, according to US producer WR Grace & Co.
Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts are the main end market for lanthanum oxide, the lightest of the rare earths, which has increased in price by almost 20-fold in the last year.
Maryland-based Grace said the average rare earths content in an FCC catalyst is about 2.5% of the total weight.
“The impact is significant,” Shawn Abrams, vice president and general manager of the group’s Grace...