The market is calm, with prices running relatively stable [SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review]

May 29 News:

Rare Earth Ores:

Today, the price range of rare earth carbonate is 35,100-35,300 yuan/mt, the price of monazite has been adjusted to 41,000-41,600 yuan/mt, and the price of medium-yttrium, europium-rich ore is approximately 187,000-188,000 yuan/mt. Recently, most domestic industry players have been paying high attention to the issuance of mining quotas. Meanwhile, the volume of imported ores has also been growing rapidly. In April, the imports of unlisted rare earth oxides exceeded 6,000 mt. It is understood that currently, downstream separation plants have relatively low enthusiasm for purchasing rare earth ores due to the unclear quota amounts.

Rare Earth Oxides:

Currently, the price of lanthanum oxide is temporarily stable at 4,200-4,800 yuan/mt, and the price of cerium oxide has remained stable at 10,000-11,800 yuan/mt this week. Recently, the rare earth market has been relatively calm, with significantly sluggish downstream purchasing activity. The overall price fluctuation range of light rare earths has been relatively small during the week. The price trend of Pr-Nd oxide has also been relatively stable this week. As of Thursday this week, the average price of Pr-Nd oxide has only changed by approximately 500 yuan/mt compared to Monday. The prices of medium-heavy rare earth oxides, such as dysprosium oxide and terbium oxide, rose slightly at the beginning of the week driven by market speculation. However, as the market gradually returned to calm, their prices also dropped back slightly towards the end of the week. The price of yttrium oxide has temporarily stabilized at 48,000-52,000 yuan/mt this week. Currently, most industry players are adopting a wait-and-see attitude towards the future prices of rare earths.

Rare Earth Metals:

This week, the overall price of Pr-Nd alloy has remained relatively stable. Given the relatively stable prices of raw materials (Pr-Nd oxide), the quotes from metal plants have also been relatively firm. The price volatility of dysprosium-iron alloy and terbium metal has also been relatively small. Although the current purchasing activity of downstream magnetic material enterprises is not active, supported by costs, it is difficult for the actual transaction prices of metals to decline significantly. Most industry players believe that it is unlikely for metal prices to experience significant fluctuations in the future market.

Rare Earth Permanent Magnets:

The prices of NdFeB blanks are as follows: NdFeB blank N38 (Ce) is reported at 140-150 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40M is reported at 186-196 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40H is reported at 190-200 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 45SH (Ce) is reported at 240-260 yuan/kg.

This week, the prices of NdFeB blanks have increased, mainly due to the rise in metal prices leading to increased production costs. However, the demand in the end-use market has not shown improvement, and the order situation of magnetic material enterprises is not ideal. Meanwhile, the rise in metal prices, influenced by the oxide market, has limited the acceptance of high-priced metals by magnetic material enterprises, resulting in weak purchase willingness. The market has entered a stalemate between upstream and downstream. It is expected that the prices of magnetic materials will remain stable.

Rare earth scrap:

This week, the price of Pr-Nd recycled from NdFeB scrap closed at 466-472 yuan/kg; the price of dysprosium recycled from NdFeB scrap closed at 1,610-1,621 yuan/kg; and the price of terbium recycled from NdFeB scrap closed at 5,439-5,495 yuan/kg.

At the beginning of this week, upstream oxide suppliers were reluctant to sell and refused to budge on prices, leading to an increase in the market prices of oxides and driving up the prices of scrap. As scrap prices rose, market inquiry activity also increased. However, due to the influence of end-use demand, a stalemate emerged between the upstream and downstream of the rare earth market, with prices currently remaining stable. It is expected that scrap market prices will also remain stable in the short term.

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