[SMM Review] what are the reasons for the stagnation of rare earth exports in August?

Published: Sep 7, 2020 16:49

SMM9: as we all know, China, as the country with the richest rare earth resources in the world, accounts for more than 95% of the global rare earth demand with 23%, and has become the country's "strategic resource". And China also has the leading global production technology. Data show that in the field of extraction and separation, China accounts for 70% to 80% of the global market share, and the purity of rare earth smelting separation in China has reached 99.9999%. But recently, China's exports of rare earths have slowed down.

China's exports of rare earths totaled 1640 tons in August, down 1.36% from the previous month and a sharp decline of 62.3% from a year earlier, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs today. From January to August, rare earth exports totaled 24378 tons, down 25.7 percent from the same period last year. On the price side, the export price of rare earths rose significantly in August, up 79% from the same period last year.

SMM believes that July and August are the overseas summer break. In addition, under the interference of the epidemic, overseas market demand remains sluggish. According to some traders, the atmosphere of overseas inquiry orders in July is light, and correspondingly, the operating rate of domestic rare earth factories is relatively low, resulting in a sharp decrease in rare earth exports in August from the previous month, and there is no big fluctuation compared with July. In addition, the prices of rare earth varieties such as praseodymium, neodymium, terbium and dysprosium are rising this year, especially the price of terbium oxide has risen to an all-time high of nearly eight years, which also makes the export prices of domestic enterprises rise.

[SMM Analysis] the impact of the epidemic is far-reaching. Rare earth exports fell nearly 70% in July compared with the same period last year.

Industry trends

According to SMM, the domestic rare earth market cooled last week, praseodymium, neodymium, dysprosium, terbium and other mainstream products have varying degrees of pullback; market transactions are sporadic, consumers are cautious to purchase. Light rare earths, lanthanum and cerium still maintain long-term stability, fundamentals and trading conditions have not changed much. The price of praseodymium and neodymium oxide fell back last week, especially as the previous high price began to fall. In terms of medium and heavy rare earths, products such as terbium and gadolinium are under pressure this week.

Today, the prices of products in the rare earth market are the same as last Friday, with praseodymium-neodymium oxide at 33.8-342000 yuan / ton, praseodymium-neodymium metal at 43-436000 yuan / ton, terbium oxide at 4870-4920 yuan / kg, and oxidation at 1740-1760 yuan / kg.

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The Resource tax Law of the people's Republic of China came into force on September 1. In the resource tax law, the fixed tax rate for medium and heavy rare earths is reduced from 27% to 20%, while the floating tax rate for light rare earths is 7%, 12%, and the specific tax rate is determined by the people's government at the provincial level. Among them, Baotou mine tax rate is 11.5%, Sichuan mine is 9.5%, Shandong mine is 7.5%. Some companies said that the tax rate on medium and heavy rare earths has been reduced by 7 percentage points, which will reduce the cost for mineral processing enterprises, or affect the price positioning of medium and heavy rare earth products in the later stage.

Notice of meeting

Sponsored by SMM, Dongguan Magnetic Materials Industry Association, Ganzhou rare Earth Industry Association jointly sponsored the 2020 China rare Earth permanent Magnet Industry Market Application Development Forum will be held in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province on October 15-16, when industry experts, business leaders, industry elites, investment circles and other people will gather together to explore the development trend of the rare earth industry and explore potential business opportunities in the industry. SMM sincerely invites you to join us for innovation and resplendence!

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Please fill in your personal information on the last page and the meeting staff will contact you later!

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