Dysprosium oxide prices recovered 30,000 yuan/mt on demand improvement

SHANGHAI, Nov 18 (SMM) – Prices of dysprosium oxide across Chinese markets rose 30,000 yuan/mt last week to 1.55-1.57 million yuan/mt, as demand slightly recovered.

This came despite an easing in tightness in raw material supply following the recovery of imports of mixed rare earth carbonate ore from Myanmar, as recyclers and traders controlled limited supply and major producers held their offers firm.

Eased supply concerns and weak demand knocked prices of dysprosium oxide to the lowest in about six months at 1.5-1.53 million yuan/mt in early November.

Tracking gains in dysprosium oxide, prices of terbium oxide rose to 3.44-3.47 million yuan/mt as of Friday November 15, showed SMM assessments, while prices of other medium-to-heavy rare earths such as gadolinium and holmium oxides dipped last week.

Prices of light rare earths, praseodymium-neodymium and neodymium oxides, last week held stable at 282,000-285,000 yuan/mt and 284,000-287,000 yuan/mt, respectively, their lowest since late May.

China earlier this month announced its annual rare-earth mining quota, indicating an increase for light rare earths. This, together with sluggish demand, will keep prices of light rare earth products in check.

The full-year rare earth mining quota has been set at 132,000 mt for 2019 and the smelting and separation quota at 127,000 mt, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, both up 12,000 mt from 2018.