The Rare Earth Technology Alliance (RETA) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) released a first of its kind economics report on rare earths. “The Economic Benefits of the North American Rare Earths Industry” examines the essential role of rare earths in the economy and in many downstream products.
“Addressing the growth and diversification of the rare earth sector is critical to our economy because of the essential nature of rare earths,” said Pierre Neatby, RETA chair. “Billions of individual products from a myriad of product lines contain rare earth elements. Rare earth elements are vital to many modern industries including chemicals, consumer electronics, clean energy, transportation, health care, aviation and defense.”
“The Economic Benefits of the North American Rare Earths Industry” report provides an in-depth look at the economic footprint of the rare earth industry in terms of its direct, indirect and induced effects as measured by output, payrolls, jobs and taxes paid. The new analysis also quantifies downstream economic activity (as measured by output, payrolls, and jobs) supported by the use of rare earth products.
“Our analysis illustrates the extensive role and support that rare earth products have provided and can continue to provide to the broader North American economy,” said Dr. Kevin Swift, chief economist and managing director of ACC. “Even though the rare earth industry is still growing in the U.S. and Canada, its contributions are vastly significant.”
Some highlights from the ACC and RETA report include:
- The rare earth industry directly contributes to the North American economy with $795 million in shipments, employing nearly 1,050 workers with a payroll of $116 million.
- Adding other upstream impacts (indirect and induced) to its direct impact, the rare earth industry generates a total of $1.9 billion in economic output in North America.
- The rare earth industry is supportive of $329.6 billion in economic output in “downstream” end-market products and technologies that employ 618,800 workers (with a combined payroll of $37.6 billion) in the US and Canada.
Learn more at RETA’s website.
