Hastings, Wyloo Form Joint Venture for Yangibana Rare Earths, Niobium Project

[SMM Rare Earth News Flash] Japan's Daikin Industries, Shin-Etsu Chemical, Hitachi, and Tokyo Eco Recycle jointly announced that they will recover rare earth magnets from commercial air conditioning compressors. They plan to develop automated equipment in 2026 and achieve full-scale operations in 2027, with a target of recovering several mt of rare earth magnets such as neodymium annually. Daikin will collect compressors, Tokyo Eco Recycle and Hitachi will be responsible for extraction, and Shin-Etsu Chemical will use recovered materials to reproduce new magnets. This initiative aims to establish Japan's first commercial air conditioning magnet recycling framework, reduce dependence on Chinese rare earths, and enhance supply chain resilience.

[SMM Rare Earth News Flash] Affected by multiple factors, as of 17:00 today, the spot Pr-Nd oxide was quoted at 775,000-780,000 yuan/mt, unchanged from the morning price, and spot Pr-Nd alloy was quoted at 935,000-950,000 yuan/mt, also unchanged from the morning price. According to SMM, some transactions of Pr-Nd oxide were concluded at 775,000-777,000 yuan/mt. Some suppliers reported that supplies below 775,000 yuan/mt were hard to find. Although downstream magnetic material enterprises actively inquired and restocked, they showed obvious resistance to high-priced metals, with the highest transaction price of Pr-Nd alloy reaching 945,000 yuan/mt.

[SMM Overseas Rare Earths Update] Driven by rising prices in China and future expectations, mainstream rare earth prices outside China edged up this week. Praseodymium oxide FOB closed at $126-130/kg, neodymium oxide FOB closed at $157-189/kg, up $2/kg WoW, praseodymium metal FOB closed at $171-179/kg, up $5/kg WoW, and neodymium metal FOB closed at $159-179/kg, up $6/kg WoW.