Prices outside China remained stable this week, with the US-Brazil supply chain construction achieving both funding and project milestones [SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review]
This week, rare earth prices outside China remained broadly stable. Neodymium oxide and terbium oxide edged lower, while terbium metal bucked the trend and moved higher, reflecting rigid demand support for medium-heavy rare earths. In news, USAR's magnet plant in the US broke ground and integrated heavy rare earth resources from Brazil, with recycling projects advancing in parallel. In Brazil, IMC, BRE, and Viridis made intensive metallurgical breakthroughs at their ionic clay projects. On the financing side, Aclara secured a $750 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of the US, and JOGMEC increased its investment in Brazilian exploration, marking a shift in overseas supply chain competition toward "capital lock-in and delivery of separated capacity." Diversification of non-China supply is accelerating, but in the short term it still relies on policy support.