US DLA Contracts REalloys for Rare Earth Metals Plant to Boost Domestic Production and Supply Chain Security

【SMM News on March 4】Driven by rising domestic prices and international energy prices, overseas lanthanum-cerium oxide prices increased across the board. Lanthanum oxide FOB was assessed at $960-1,020/mt, up $30/mt; cerium oxide FOB was assessed at $1,883-1,967/mt, up $125/mt; and cerium oxide CIF (Port of Rotterdam) was assessed at $2,550-2,560/mt, up $135/mt. According to the SMM survey, this round of price increases was a normal market fluctuation and has not yet caused significant cost pressure on overseas buyers.

Australia’s St George Mining announced on Monday a resource update for its Araxa rare earths project in Brazil, representing an increase of up to 75%. St George, which owned 100% of the project, said this was the result of work conducted since July 2025. The company said the Araxa project’s ore resource had increased from 40 million mt to 70.91 million mt. The total rare earth oxides (TREO) grade was 4.06%, and the niobium (Nb2O5) grade was 0.62%.

Neo Performance Materials of Canada and Cyclic Materials announced that they have reached a rare earth recycling agreement. Neo will supply Cyclic with magnet production scrap from its European plants, which Cyclic will recycle into mixed rare earth oxides for Neo to manufacture alloys and magnets. This move aligns with the objectives of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act and enhances rare earth processing and recycling capacity. Neo operates a 2,000 mt/year magnet facility in Estonia and is expected to expand it to 5,000 mt/year. Cyclic is building a recycling campus in South Carolina, with initial capacity of 2,000 mt/year for magnet processing and 600 mt/year for mixed rare earth oxides, which will increase to 6,000 mt/year and 1,800 mt/year, respectively, after expansion.