Malaysia Considers Lifting Ban on Unprocessed Rare Earth Exports Amid Intensifying Global Competition

[SMM Rare Earth Flash] According to foreign media reports, US President Trump is expected to attend a mining roundtable hosted by the US Department of State on Friday, discussing the development of critical minerals supply chains with executives from multiple mining enterprises, and further promoting the expansion of critical minerals supply by the US and its allies to reduce dependence on China. Sources say the Trump administration has made critical minerals a strategic priority. In addition to supporting mine development and processing capacity building, it will also strengthen the cultivation of mining talent. The US Department of Energy (DOE) is expected to host a mining workforce development event during the same period, inviting 14 mining colleges across the US to participate, enhancing the reserve of mining professionals, and providing technical and human support for future critical minerals projects.

[SMM Rare Earth Flash] The Indonesian Presidential Office stated that exports of mineral products potentially containing associated rare earth elements have been resumed, and clarified that the rare earth export ban applies only to rare earths exported as primary products, not to associated rare earths in mineral products such as bauxite, alumina, copper cathode, and nickel derivatives. Indonesian Presidential Chief of Staff Dudung Abdurachman said that the policy serves as a transitional guideline for exporters, inspection agencies, and customs authorities, and will ease export delays previously caused by mandatory rare earth detection. PT Sucofindo, responsible for the detection, will gradually release 85 previously delayed inspection reports involving exports of alumina, copper cathode, and nickel derivatives, which is expected to prompt the resumption of shipments for over a hundred stranded vessels. The Indonesian government will further establish limits for associated rare earth content, detection standards, and inspection procedures.

[SMM Rare Earth Daily Review: Rare Earth Prices in the Doldrums, Tug-of-War Between Buyers and Sellers Continues] Overall, inquiry activity in the rare earth market is currently low, and combined with the decline in futures prices for Pr-Nd oxide, rare earth prices are in the doldrums. However, upstream producers' quotes remain relatively firm, with limited actual declines, and the tug-of-war between upstream and downstream is intense. In the short term, affected by the stalemate in market trading, Pr-Nd product prices are likely to move sideways within a narrow range.