[SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review: Pr-Nd Prices Continue to Rise, Medium-Heavy Rare Earths Stop Falling and Recover] This week, the price of Pr-Nd alloy rose initially before dropping back slightly. As of now, Pr-Nd alloy has stabilized at 730,000-740,000 yuan/mt. At the beginning of the week, influenced by the rapid increase in oxide prices, the cost-supported price of Pr-Nd alloy experienced a slight raise. However, due to the approaching holiday, downstream magnetic material enterprises showed weak purchase willingness, and market transactions remained stagnant, leading to a slight pullback after the initial price surge. Nevertheless, raw material costs remained high, limiting the actual decline in the alloy price.

This week, overseas markets generally entered the Christmas holiday period, with prices stabilizing for the time being. Market trading activity remained subdued, and the development process in the ore sector slowed down, awaiting a post-holiday recovery.

[SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review: Pr-Nd Prices Rose Significantly, Medium-Heavy Rare Earth Ran in the Doldrums] This week, NdFeB prices rose slightly, primarily driven by the rapid increase in the price of Pr-Nd oxide, the raw material for NdFeB, which pushed up magnetic material prices slightly. In terms of trading, market activity was moderate this week. On one hand, persistently high raw material prices led to a strong wait-and-see sentiment among end-users. On the other hand, due to previous panic stockpiling by end-users, magnetic material inventory remains relatively high. As the year-end approaches, rigid stockpiling demand has weakened, resulting in generally moderate market trading activity.

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia, with their abundant reserves of rare earth resources, are emerging as key players in the diversification of the global rare earth supply chain. In this article, we will examine the development of the rare earth industry in these three countries.

Recently, US magnet manufacturer eVAC shipped the first batch of NdFeB permanent magnets from its Sumter plant in South Carolina, marking a critical step in the localization of rare earth permanent magnet production in the US. This delivery is considered the first commercial production of rare earth magnets in the country. At the same time, positive news emerged from domestic resource exploration in the US—Ion Mineral Technology discovered an ion-adsorption rare earth ore deposit at its Silicon Ridge project in Utah. This deposit is not only rich in rare earths but also contains 16 critical metals, including gallium, germanium, and rubidium. This discovery could become one of the largest critical mineral deposits in North America.

This Week, the US Pioneered a Breakthrough in Rare Earth Magnets, While South Korea, as a Processing Hub, Vigorously Developed the Rare Earth Industry for Europe and the US.

[SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review: Rare Earth Prices Continued to Decline Due to Weak End-Use Demand] Pr-Nd oxide prices continued to decline this week. Currently, the upstream supply of Pr-Nd oxide has not improved, but the reduction in demand has been more significant. Recently, many industry participants reported that downstream metal plants have shown relatively low inquiry activity, with restocking primarily driven by rigid demand and a strong push for lower prices. As a result, Pr-Nd oxide prices further dropped to 574,000-576,000 yuan/mt during the week. This week, dysprosium oxide prices remained weak; however, due to continued procurement by leading large plants, the decline was relatively small, with prices edging down to 1.35-1.36 million yuan/mt.

This Week's Overseas Rare Earth Developments: Europe and the United States Continued to Strengthen the Autonomy of the Rare Earth Supply Chain, Multiple Parties Explored Cooperation Between Enterprises and Governments, Vietnam Initiated Rare Earth Controls, and Launched Government-Led Development of the Rare Earth Industry Chain.

[SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review: Rare Earth Prices Continue to Decline, Downstream Procurement Demand Remains Weak] This week, the price of Pr-Nd alloy continued to weaken, and as of now, it has dropped to 700,000-710,000 yuan/mt. At the beginning of the week, due to fewer new orders from downstream magnetic material enterprises and limited acceptance of high-priced metals, downstream procurement remained cautious, resulting in poor actual transaction performance. Additionally, traders actively sold at low prices, leading to a continuous decline in the market price of Pr-Nd alloy. However, driven by tender purchases from several major magnetic material enterprises, market inquiries improved, and the price of Pr-Nd alloy began to stop falling and stabilize.