SMM News: Northern Rare Earth and Bao Gang United Steel Raise Rare Earth Ore Transaction Price by 1.11% QoQ in Q2 2025

[SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review: Rare Earth Prices Show Mixed Performance, with Lackluster Actual Transactions] Due to the impact of news factors, some industry insiders expect that the supply of Pr-Nd oxide will increase significantly in H2. As a result, downstream metal plants showed low purchase willingness, causing quotes for Pr-Nd oxide to edge down. As of today, the price of Pr-Nd oxide fluctuated and pulled back to 690,000-693,000 yuan/mt.

Iran’s armed forces announced on the 11th that the Strait of Hormuz is closed to all vessels effective immediately, and any unauthorized passage will be targeted. According to multiple Iranian media reports, the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters of Iran’s armed forces issued a statement in the early hours of the 11th, saying that due to regional instability, the Strait of Hormuz is closed to all vessels effective immediately, including oil tankers and merchant ships, and any unauthorized passage will be targeted. Iran also dismissed US claims regarding ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

South Korea will launch a national R&D project to reuse fuel cells and rare earth permanent magnets recovered from scrapped hydrogen vehicles. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute announced on June 8 that they will begin a national R&D project to safely dismantle end-of-life hydrogen vehicles and reuse or recycle their key components. The ministry will invest KRW 40.8 billion from this year through 2029 to develop technologies in three major areas: safe removal of residual hydrogen and dismantling of key components; development of power generation systems using reused hydrogen storage tanks and fuel cells; and recovery of permanent magnets from end-of-life drive motors and conversion into high-purity rare earth materials.