Rare Earth Prices Rose before the National Day Holiday, but Whether the Gains Will Sustain after the Holiday Faces Uncertainty

SHANGHAI, Sep 29 (SMM) – In the last trading week before the National Day holiday, the rare earth spot market performed well. Magnetic material companies gradually completed pre-holiday stocking, thus rare earth prices stabilised following initial gains. Large magnetic material companies said their new orders rose slightly this week, while some small magnetic material companies reported that their orders did not improve significantly. At present, many rare earth metal factories have expressed that the spot supply of rare earth oxides is relatively tight. Some rare earth metal factories even suspended their quotations. 

Pre-holiday rare earth market review 

In terms of light rare earths, the spot supply of praseodymium-neodymium oxide was relatively tight, sending its prices up. The maximum offer stood at 680,000 yuan/mt, while the mainstream traded prices were 670,000 yuan/mt. The trades in praseodymium-neodymium metal market were quiet this week as sellers rarely made quotations due to raw material shortages. As of this Thursday, praseodymium-neodymium metal was offered at 810,000-815,000 yuan/mt, and the transaction was less than expected. 

The supply of praseodymium oxide and neodymium oxide has been tight, and their prices rose slightly along with praseodymium-neodymium oxide. Praseodymium oxide and neodymium oxide were offered at 710,000-730,000 yuan/mt and 730,000-750,000 yuan/mt respectively. Quotations of praseodymium metal and neodymium metal were raised to 960,000-970,000 yuan/mt and 880,000-890,000 yuan/mt respectively.  
In terms of medium and heavy rare earths, prices of gadolinium oxide and holmium oxide climbed to 365,000-370,000 yuan/mt and 680,000-700,000 yuan/mt respectively, driven by rising praseodymium and neodymium prices, as well as pandemic in Jiangxi. 

The prices of dysprosium oxide rose from 2.26-2.28 million yuan/mt at the beginning of the week to 2.28-2.3 million yuan/mt. The prices of terbium oxide rose slightly from 12.8-12.9 million yuan/mt at the beginning of the week to 12.9-12.95 million yuan/mt, with a few transactions being done at 13 million yuan/mt. 

The current demand from downstream magnetic material enterprises is not very strong. The post-holiday prices will depend on whether trading activities will pick up.