In this section, we provide you with some insights on the current usage of our products. Please contact us if you need any further information about how we can adapt a magnet for your application.

16/11/2011

RARE EARTH RAW MATERIAL PRICE INCREASES - AN UPDATE

After climbing to a record 1.5~1.6 Million RMB per tonne for the much sought after oxide PrNd, there has been a decrease in the prices for certain Rare Earth Elements, including PrNd. Today, the Chinese domestic price for PrNd, responsible for the production of such finished items like magnets is around 950,000 RMB per tonne.

In recent months, further demand destruction has occured due to the skyrocketing prices. Large users of products containing REE's have either done away with the use of these items or have incorporated substitute products. Furthermore, supply has was restricted even further when a major processor of REE's in Northern China stopped production for one month, creating further havoc within an already spooked market place.

Despite these woes in China, other REE producers are ramping up the commissioning of their own mines and production facilities to hopefully take up some of the supply shortages. One such company Molycorp is making tremendous progress at their Mountain Pass rare earth mine and oxide manufacturing facility. Read more about the current state of play here:

http://www.molycorp.com/Markets/GlobalOutlook.aspx

30/5/2011

RARE EARTH RAW MATERIAL PRICE INCREASES

The price for the raw materials used to manufacture magnets amongst other things has increased 10 fold over the last 2 years. In 2009 a tonne of Rare Earth Elements or REE's was worth about 150,000 RMB. Today the price has breached 1 Million RMB. This has seen significant increases in the cost of Neodymium magnets which are predominantly produced from REE's mined from the northern parts of China. China has one of the largest reserves of REE's and basically controls the worldwide supply of these not so rare resources.

There are several reasons for the increases. The Chinese Government releases a strategic plan every 5 years that outlines how the centrally planned State Council will allocate resources and manage its industrial economy.

China's latest plan has a strong focus on boosting domestic consumption by creating more environmentally sustainable growth including the harnessing of clean air technologies such as wind energy. This is perhaps a simplistic answer as to why REE's have skyrocketed but given that wind turbine generators use vast number of REE's from their use of magnets, the Chinese Government have placed significant export quotas on REE's thereby reducing supply dramatically. It's fair to say that investors have also probably played a part in buying into REE producers.

30/8/2010

SYDNEY SAFETY & MATERIALS HANDLING SHOW

AMF announces that we will be exhibiting our range of magnetic products at the upcoming Sydney Safety & Materials Handling Show at Sydney Olympic Park, 26-28th October.

Come and check out our stand K30 where we will be exhibiting and demonstrating our:

Magnetic Lifters
Magnetic Sweepers
Neodymium Pot Magnets

Look forward to seeing you there!

15/4/2010

MAGNETIC TAPES/STRIPS

While rarely seen in action, flexible Magnetic Tapes/Stripes play an important part in the signage and display industry. Their ability to make signage highly interchangeable is a key benefit of their use over traditional methods of signage attachment.

AMF Magnetics has an extensive range of Magnetic Tapes/Strips in all manner of sizes and styles. The product is mostly sold in roll format which is easily cut to size. Magnetic Tapes/Strips also come with adhesive coatings to make attaching non-metallic panels, graphics and the like simple and effective.

While Magnetic Tapes/Strips do see extensive use in the signage and display industries, they are very useful at home or in the office. Temporary signage on whiteboards or other metal surfaces are just a couple of common applications. For example, our 500x15x6mm strip with adhesive is an excellent choice for holding up graphic panels or the like, as the following pictures illustrate.

   

8/2/2010

INDUSTRIAL MAGNETS

AMF Magnetics is Australia’s leading supplier of industrial magnets for all applications. Our range includes the ever popular Rare Earth Neodymium magnets with its superior size to strength ratio, they are suited to a wide range of applications, including magnetic separators in the food industry, flow control systems, water conditioning to name but a few.

4/2/2010

MAGNETIC WATER CONDITIONERS

Magnetic Water Conditioners, which treat water through powerful magnetic fields, are proving a mighty weapon against mineral and salinity problems in water supplies and soils.  Magnetic water treatment is environmentally friendly, pollution and maintenance free, incurs no chemical, maintenance or energy costs and has a service life of more than 25 years.

For further information about these products, please contact AMF Magnetics on 1800 685 485 or sales@magnet.com.au

7/5/2009

AMF MAGNETICS RELEASE A FANTASTIC NEW RANGE OF POP DISPLAY PRODUCTS

AMF Magnetics have just released an exciting new range of Point of Purchase (POP) products that are sure to amaze.

As you can see from the pictures below, by a clever use of magnets objects literally float in thin air!

These products would be suitable in all manner of retail situations as well as night clubs, restaurants etc. The colourful lighting and magical way items float within the unit make for an interesting talking point and enhancement of your brand image.

AMF Magnetics are seeking distributors of the product, so please contact them on 02 9700 0055 to express your interest.

15/4/2009

PERPETUAL MOTION - FACT OR FICTION?

The headline read this week, “MINI TO INTRODUCE “PERPETUAL MOTION (PM)” MAGNETIC PROPULSION SYSTEM”. Unfortunately the press release was part of an April Fools joke and therefore no truth in the statement.

For years now, people from all walks of life have been attempting to put into practice the now famous quote from Nikola Tesla: “One day man will connect his apparatus to the very wheelwork of the universe [...] and the very forces that motivate the planets in their orbits and cause them to rotate will rotate his own machinery.”

PM by way of magnetic technology is still very much evolving, with some success. AMF Magnetics continues to support privateers in their quest to develop a commercially viable answer to PM. Perhaps MINI are close enough to joke about it?

28/11/2008

FLYSCREEN MAGNETS

Fly's are as much apart of Summer in Australia as a snag on the barbie, but definitely not as nice.

Magnafix is AMF Magnetics' brand for the highly popular range of self-adhesive magnetic tapes used to attach among other things graphic panels, signage etc.

Magnafix is also a perfect solution for the temporary placement of flyscreens on campervans, cabins, cars or any place where fly's are not wanted.

Check out the range on the Magnafix page on our website.

27/10/2008

PATCH MAGNETS

It is usually this time of the year that calenders are beginning to be printed for the new year ahead. As is often the case with printed promotional material, the receiver will usually take a quick glance and toss it in the rubbish with the rest of the junk mail.

Give your calenders, menu's and other printed promotional material the edge with a patch magnet!

Patch magnets are self-adhesive, flexible magnetic tabs that come on a sheet, pre-cut to 20x40mm size ready to be adhered to your printed material.

AMF Magnetics offers 20x20x0.8mm Patch magnets sutiable for business cards and the like. The larger 20x40mm patch magnet comes in either 0.6mm thick for DL size or similar material that is under 250 gsm or the 0.8mm for thicker printed material.

Order your patch magnets in time before the new year.

17/7/2008

MAGNETIC SWEEPERS

When you think about it, there really isn't any other way of cleaning up large areas such as trucking yards, car parks etc. of nails, screws or other sharp metal items than by using a magnetic sweeper.

AMF Magnetics now stock 3 different magnetic sweepers for our customers to choose from. The 18" unit is perfectly suited to small work areas where space is an issue. The 30" unit is an excellent way to quickly and easily clean up large areas such as car parks or trucking yards. The ultimate is the 48" Hanging Sweeper which easily attaches by way of chains to the rear of any type of motorised vehicle to clean up very large areas.

We also manufacture custom made units which are specifically designed as an attachment to forklifts or similar vehicles for cleaning road surfaces and the like. Enquire with AMF Magnetics about your magnetic sweeper requirement.

25/3/2008

RARE EARTH NEODYMIUM POT MAGNETS

In 2007, AMF Magnetics introduced a complete range of Rare Earth Neodymium pot magnets that have made our strongest magnets even more versatile for our customers.

Pot magnets are regular rare earth magnets that are encased in a steel cup and come with various fixture points that make these magnets perfect for all types of holding applications. For instance, our pot magnets are available with either a countersunk hole, male or female threads or a hook and can hold from around 5kgs right up to an amazing 160kgs. Remarkably, one of the larger pot magnets can hold over 300 times its own weight!

Our customers have been finding new uses for our pot magnets all the time. One customer is currently investigating the use of our pot magnets in a point-of-sale application while another in the construction industry is using them to hold light weight roof panels onto steel battens.

For further information about our full range of Rare Earth Neodymium Pot magnets, please refer to our Product Catalogue section.