08/04/25
New medical device demand to disrupt rhenium market
London, 8 April (Argus) — Superalloys have been the primary source of rhenium
demand over the past two decades, but new medical applications have the
potential to disrupt the market. Several molybdenum-rhenium (MoRe) alloy medical
devices have been approved by the US Food and Administration (FDA) over the past
18 months and demand is growing fast, delegates at the Minor Metals Trade
Association (MMTA) annual conference in Lisbon heard today. China has been
hoovering up much of the global supply of rhenium, which is primarily produced
by Molymet in Chile, for its burgeoning aerospace manufacturing industry. China
surpassed the US as the largest importer of rhenium from Chile in 2023, taking
26t — up from 2t in 2018 — according to UK-based trading firm Lipmann Walton.
That was equivalent to Molymet's annual primary production. The US has
historically been the largest importer for its aerospace industry, with
aerospace superalloys typically accounting for around 75pc of overall rhenium
demand. But the aerospace industry will increasingly need to compete with the
medical industry for supply over the coming years, several speakers said. Mo50
Re alloy, which contains 47.5pc rhenium and 52.5pc molybdenum, has been cleared
by the FDA for use in spinal implants, and more recently cardiovascular stents.
MiRus, which is developing spine, limb and structural heart disease treatments
using its MoRe alloys, received FDA clearance of the first MoRe-based spine
implant in 2019 and has since received further approvals for its devices. "It
takes up to 10 years for medical approvals, but now approved, the demand from
this sector alone could be as much as the largest premium producer makes in any
given year," Lipmann Walton managing director Suzannah Lipmann said.
Rhenium-based alloys have been associated with high-temperature applications,
but they continue to find new uses at body temperature that benefit from its
mechanical strength, fatigue resistance and biological performance as an
alternative to traditional stainless steel, titanium, nickel-titanium and
cobalt-chromium alloys used in medical implants. MoRe implants have so far not
shown the allergic reactions that can results from nickel, cobalt or chromium
implants. "It's one thing to have the approval for a new design, for a new type
of instrument based upon traditional materials, but it's a totally different
thing to have the approval for a new material," Molymet's research director
Edgardo Cisternas. "This is a major milestone that opens the door for the use of
this material. It's already being used in spinal and coronary surgeries, and
probably will set new standards for bio-operability." Rhenium alloys show
promise for the design of a new generation of smaller, stronger and more
fatigue-resistant foot and ankle implants, which result in faster recovery and
better outcomes for patients, Titan International's chief technical officer Alex
Iasnikov said. Traditional devices have a tendency to break over time, at a rate
of up to 10pc, requiring replacement, Iasnikov said. But rhenium-containing
implants are more robust and have shown zero breakage rates in initial testing.
MoRe stents can absorb more radiation than traditional alloys, making them
easier to implant more precisely and safely. "With our ageing population around
the world, this is going to result in big demand," Iasnikov said. "We believe
that demand for this can grow very substantially, and I wouldn't be surprised if
in 10 years it might disrupt markets." Growing demand for rhenium, driven by
megatrends such as medicine, electronics and green hydrogen refining, in
addition to Chinese aerospace manufacturing, could lift prices to levels that
would spur increased recycling, speakers said. This is particularly the case as
annual output from the world's four major primary producers is set to remain
relatively stable, given reductions in copper and molybdenum concentrate content
in legacy ore bodies and a lack of new mining capacity in development. By Nicole
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