February 12 (SMM) -
Rare Earth Ore:
Today, the price range for rare earth carbonate was 68,400-69,300 yuan/mt, monazite prices adjusted to 6.35-6.75 yuan/mt, and medium-yttrium, europium-rich ore prices were around 273,000-275,000 yuan/mt. Recently, most traders showed low enthusiasm for pre-holiday shipments, and downstream separation enterprises had largely completed stockpiling. The trading atmosphere in the rare earth ore market was sluggish, maintaining an overall weak and stable pattern.
Rare Earth Oxides:
This week, lanthanum oxide prices remained stable at 4,300-4,700 yuan/mt, and cerium oxide prices held steady at 11,800-12,500 yuan/mt. Pr-Nd oxide market offers stayed high, with suppliers holding optimistic expectations for the future and showing little willingness to sell at low prices. However, downstream buyers gradually entered the holiday period, and actual procurement basically stalled. As of today, Pr-Nd oxide prices adjusted to 845,000-855,000 yuan/mt. In the medium-heavy rare earth sector, dysprosium oxide offers rose with the market, but actual transaction performance was poor. Dysprosium oxide transaction prices were raised this week to 1.47-1.48 million yuan/mt. Terbium oxide market offers from suppliers also increased significantly, but as the Chinese New Year approached, actual trading activity was weak, and its prices adjusted to 6.4-6.45 million yuan/mt. Gadolinium oxide prices also continued their upward trend, with supplier offers rising to 245,000-250,000 yuan/mt. Holmium oxide market offers still edged up slightly, with its prices adjusting to the range of 555,000-560,000 yuan/mt. Erbium oxide market trading activity decreased this week, but supplier offers remained relatively high, and its prices continued to adjust slightly to 398,000-400,000 yuan/mt. Approaching the Chinese New Year holiday, inquiry activity in the rare earth oxides market dropped noticeably, but most suppliers held firm on their offers. Yttrium oxide prices stabilized within the range of 68,000-70,000 yuan/mt during the week.
Rare Earth Metals:
This week, Pr-Nd alloy prices showed a trend of retreating after a rapid rise and then stabilizing, with prices rising to 1.02-1.03 million yuan/mt. This week, Pr-Nd alloy broke through the one million yuan mark, hitting a nearly three-year high, mainly driven by both continuously rising raw material costs and tight spot supply. Early in the week, spurred by some magnetic material enterprises stockpiling in advance and coupled with rising raw material costs, metal enterprises continuously raised their offers. However, as the Chinese New Year approached, downstream magnetic material enterprises began holidays one after another, and the trading atmosphere in the metal market turned sluggish. Prices pulled back slightly and then stabilized. In the medium-heavy rare earth market, dysprosium-iron alloy settled at 1.42-1.43 million yuan/mt. Influenced by increased inquiry and procurement activities from magnetic material enterprises, metal enterprise offers continued to rise supported by costs. But with the Chinese New Year holiday nearing, overall market trading activity significantly decreased, and prices began to move steadily. The price of terbium metal was also affected by the increased procurement inquiries from magnetic material enterprises at the beginning of the week. Suppliers continued to raise their offers, but actual transactions were scarce, and the price increased to 7.8-7.85 million yuan/mt. This week, gadolinium-iron alloy, driven by the continuous price increases of Pr-Nd products, saw suppliers holding strong bullish sentiment with weak willingness to sell at low prices, leading to widespread price hikes, with the price rising to 240,000-245,000 yuan/mt.
Rare Earth Permanent Magnets:
Currently, the price of NdFeB blank N38 (Ce) was quoted at 235-245 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40M was quoted at 281-291 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40H was quoted at 285-295 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 45SH (ce) was quoted at 335-355 yuan/kg.
This week, NdFeB prices increased, primarily due to the continuous sharp rise in the prices of raw materials such as praseodymium-neodymium oxide and metal, which drove magnetic material plants to raise their external quotations. In terms of transactions, market activity was moderate. On one hand, as the Chinese New Year holiday approached, the processing capacity of various magnetic material plants declined, and trading was suspended, with only existing orders being maintained. Although some producers made inquiries, most were for sample orders. On the other hand, motor plants faced rising costs due to high commodity prices, leading to a slowdown in overall operating rates compared to before, which in turn resulted in a slowdown in procurement of magnetic steel and moderate market trading activity.
Rare Earth Scrap:
This week, the price of Pr-Nd recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 790-800 yuan/kg; dysprosium recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 1,330-1,350 yuan/kg; terbium recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 5,800-6,000 yuan/kg.
This week, scrap market prices continued to rise, mainly influenced by the ongoing increase in oxide market prices. Some recycling enterprises had not yet met their stockpiling procurement targets. As oxide prices increased, scrap quotations were raised accordingly. However, due to scarce actual trading volume for high-priced oxides, recycling enterprises showed weak willingness to chase higher prices for procurement, and their quotations remained relatively cautious. Additionally, magnetic material enterprises began large-scale holidays this week, leading to weak overall trading in the scrap market and relatively low actual transaction volume. Overall, although oxide prices remained high, actual transactions did not follow suit. Recycling enterprises had weak willingness to chase higher prices for procurement, and coupled with large-scale holidays for magnetic material enterprises, the overall trading performance in the scrap market was weak.
