March 12:
Rare Earth Ores:
Today, the price range of rare earth carbonate was 64,000-64,800 yuan/mt, monazite prices were adjusted to 5.9-6.1 yuan/mt, and medium-yttrium, europium-rich ore was priced at around 259,000-261,000 yuan/mt. Recently, actual transaction prices for rare earth ores were generally low, with separation plants exerting strong pressure for lower prices in procurement.
Rare Earth Oxides:
Lanthanum oxide prices were relatively stable this week, remaining at 5,000-5,200 yuan/mt, while cerium oxide market supply remained tight, with prices further raised this week to 13,500-14,000 yuan/mt. In the Pr-Nd oxide market, affected by news factors and a decline in futures prices, suppliers lacked confidence in the later market and proactively cut prices to ship cargoes. However, upstream separation plants believed that the tight supply pattern of Pr-Nd oxide had not changed. Therefore, after Pr-Nd oxide prices pulled back to 760,000-780,000 yuan/mt, they rebounded to 790,000-800,000 yuan/mt. In the medium-heavy rare earth segment, demand in the dysprosium oxide market remained weak, and prices continued to pull back, falling within the week to 1.45-1.47 million yuan/mt. In the terbium oxide market, suppliers also further lowered quotations, with prices adjusted within the week to 6.2-6.25 million yuan/mt. Downstream wait-and-see sentiment remained strong, and market inquiry activity was limited. Gadolinium oxide prices also continued to decline along with the rapid drop in Pr-Nd market prices, with supplier quotations pulling back to 240,000-245,000 yuan/mt. Holmium oxide quotations were relatively stable this week, with prices slightly adjusted to the 552,000-560,000 yuan/mt range. Erbium oxide supplier quotations remained high, with prices overall raised this week to 405,000-410,000 yuan/mt. Yttrium oxide market prices dropped back slightly this week, but low-priced cargoes remained hard to find, with market prices adjusted within the week to 70,000-73,000 yuan/mt.
Rare Earth Metals:
Cerium metal prices were relatively stable this week, with quotations holding at 31,500-32,000 yuan/mt. Pr-Nd alloy prices fluctuated sharply within the week. At the beginning of the week, under the influence of news factors, raw material prices continued to pull back, coupled with some traders proactively shipping at low prices, causing Pr-Nd alloy prices to continue falling. Due to the large price fluctuations, most metal enterprises chose to suspend quotations or keep quotations relatively high. As market sentiment recovered and current spot metal remained relatively tight, metal enterprises showed weak willingness to sell at low prices, and Pr-Nd alloy prices rebounded to 980,000-1 million yuan/mt. However, as end-users did not place concentrated orders, downstream magnetic material enterprises mostly made tentative inquiries, actual market trading remained weak, and back-and-forth negotiations between upstream and downstream were locked in stalemate. In the medium-heavy rare earth market, dysprosium-iron alloy was quoted at 1.42-1.44 million yuan/mt. Affected by persistently sluggish market inquiry activity and continued weakness in raw material prices, metal enterprises lowered quotations to 1.42-1.44 million yuan/mt, but actual transactions did not improve. Terbium metal prices were likewise affected by persistently sluggish market inquiries, with supplier offers continuing to weaken and prices adjusted down to 7.8-7.84 million yuan/mt. This week, gadolinium-iron alloy was affected by significant fluctuations in Pr-Nd product prices, coupled with reduced downstream inquiry and purchasing activity, and supplier offers were continuously lowered to 233,000-235,000 yuan/mt, before stopping falling and stabilizing after Pr-Nd prices rebounded.
Rare Earth Permanent Magnets:
At present, NdFeB blank N38 (Ce) was quoted at 241-251 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40M was quoted at 287-297 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40H was quoted at 291-301 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 45SH (ce) was quoted at 341-361 yuan/kg.
In terms of prices, NdFeB prices fell first and then rose this week, showing a “deep V” trend. The core reason was that the continued sharp fluctuations in the prices of Pr-Nd oxide and metal, the raw materials for NdFeB, drove wild swings in NdFeB prices. In terms of trading, market activity recovered somewhat this week compared with before. On the one hand, March had reached mid-month, and stockpiling plans for April-May by motor factories and end-users were expected to start, with rigid restocking demand becoming evident. On the other hand, due to large changes in bulk raw material prices and many unstable factors, magnetic material plants adopted significantly different strategies, forcing downstream motor factories and end-user plants to make frequent inquiries and closely monitor developments in the NdFeB market.
Rare Earth Scrap:
This week, Pr-Nd recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 740-750 yuan/kg; dysprosium recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 1,380-1,400 yuan/kg; terbium recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 5,800-6,000 yuan/kg.
This week, spot market prices in the scrap market fluctuated significantly, mainly due to the impact of oxide market prices falling first and then rising. At the beginning of the week, affected by market news, Pr-Nd oxide futures prices saw a “plunge,” driving a marked pullback in spot market prices for oxide, and recycling enterprises correspondingly lowered their scrap procurement quotes. Due to the large fluctuations in oxide prices, some recycling enterprises began to control scrap procurement volume. Meanwhile, scrap suppliers showed weak willingness to sell at low prices, resulting in poor trading performance in the scrap market this week. Near the weekend, supported by the rebound in oxide prices, scrap prices recovered, but the increase was relatively limited.
