Prices of rare earths drop in low consumption season

SHANGHAI, Jul 29 (SMM) – Prices of rare earths dropped last week, as poor purchasing interest among downstream consumers in a low season prompted sellers to lower their quotes.

SMM assessments showed that prices of praseodymium-neodymium oxide fell from 300,000-305,000 yuan/mt July 19 to 287,000-292,000 yuan/mt as of Friday July 26.

Prices of neodymium oxide slipped to 289,000-294,000 yuan/mt, with those of praseodymium oxide down to 385,000-395,000 yuan/mt.

Downstream consumers, producers of magnets, held back from purchasing rare-earth products of late as a seasonal lull grinds on. This drove traders to lower their offers to offload cargoes.

Quotes from large producers also eased, with prices of dysprosium oxide falling from 1.9-1.92 million yuan/mt to 1.83-1.85 million yuan as of July 26 and those of terbium oxide sliding from 4-4.02 million yuan/mt to 3.92-3.95 million yuan/mt.

Prices of gadolinium oxide dropped to 160,000-165,000 yuan/mt, with those for erbium oxide and holmium oxide down to 180,000-185,000 yuan/mt and 380,000-390,000 yuan/mt, respectively.

Rare-earth products are unlikely to pick up in the short run, as a low consumption season lingers, but prices of medium, heavy rare earths are likely to climb in the longer term.