Rare Earth Prices Rose Rapidly Within the Week as Low-Priced Supplies Tightened Quickly in the Market [SMM Weekly Review]

January 16 News:

Rare Earth Ore:

During the week, rare earth ore prices fluctuated upward. According to the SMM survey, the import volume of Myanmar ore has not yet recovered, leading to tightened spot circulation of ion-adsorption ore in the market and a subsequent rise in ore prices. Currently, the processing fee for standard ion-adsorption ore has decreased to 5,000 yuan/mt.

Rare Earth Oxides:

This week, lanthanum oxide prices slightly declined to 3,600-4,000 yuan/mt, while cerium oxide prices continued to rise to 7,700-8,200 yuan/mt. Throughout the week, rare earth oxide prices overall continued to increase rapidly. As the Chinese New Year holiday approaches, the oxide production of most separation plants is expected to decrease to some extent during the holiday. Coupled with more pronounced difficulties in raw material procurement, suppliers of oxides have significantly raised their quotations. Yttrium oxide prices remained stable this week at 40,000-43,000 yuan/mt.

Rare Earth Metals:

In the metals sector, quotations from metal plants continued to rise along with oxide prices. According to metal plants, some small-scale metal plants will begin to suspend production starting this weekend, while most large-scale metal plants are expected to maintain normal production during the Chinese New Year holiday.

Rare Earth Permanent Magnets:

This week, the procurement activities of large enterprises attracted significant market attention, driving up rare earth prices. Although magnetic material enterprises still adhere to the principle of purchasing as needed, their focus on market trends has increased. Currently, some magnetic material enterprises have suspended quotations and the acceptance of new orders, planning to halt production and take a holiday break starting next week. Only a few large enterprises with robust order demand have indicated that they will continue production during the Chinese New Year holiday. Overall, the market sentiment remains mediocre, and the market trend is expected to remain stable before the holiday.

Rare Earth Scrap:

This week, scrap prices rose along with oxide prices, reducing the availability of low-cost supplies in the market. With bullish sentiment for post-holiday prices running high, most traders opted to inquire at low prices for stocking purposes, but actual transactions proved challenging. Sellers generally adopted a wait-and-see approach, preferring to hold onto inventory for post-holiday sales. Recently, the procurement volume of separation enterprises has decreased, but there is still stocking demand before the holiday, further exacerbating the phenomenon of inverted prices.

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