Rare earth prices pulled back significantly, while transactions remained deadlocked [SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review]

June 12 News:

Rare Earth Ores:

Today, the price range of rare earth carbonate is 35,800-36,000 yuan/mt, the price of monazite has adjusted to 42,500-43,000 yuan/mt, and the price of medium-yttrium, europium-rich ore is approximately 190,000-191,000 yuan/mt. Recently, due to the continued sluggish downstream demand, some suppliers have slightly reduced prices to sell their goods, leading to an overall slight pullback in rare earth ore prices. However, according to an SMM survey, with the deepening of the rainy season in Myanmar, the output of ion-adsorption ore has decreased. Additionally, due to local policy reasons, mining costs have increased slightly. It is expected that there will be no significant decline in rare earth ore prices in the future.

Rare Earth Oxides:

Currently, the price of lanthanum oxide remains stable at 4,200-4,800 yuan/mt, and the price of cerium oxide continues to stabilize at 10,000-11,800 yuan/mt this week. Recently, the prices of light rare earths have shown a significant downward trend amid weak downstream demand. It is understood that due to the influence of news factors in the early stage, some traders' speculation caused a rapid increase in the price of Pr-Nd oxide. However, in the absence of significant improvement in downstream demand, it is difficult for the end-users to accept high-priced raw materials, leading to a decline in Pr-Nd prices starting this week. Meanwhile, dysprosium-terbium products have also seen sluggish trading amid continued weak demand. Some suppliers have actively sold at lower prices, resulting in an overall slight decline in medium-heavy rare earth prices. The price of yttrium oxide continues to stabilize at 48,000-52,000 yuan/mt this week.

Rare Earth Metals:

This week, the price of Pr-Nd alloy has pulled back slightly, mainly due to the lack of improvement in terminal demand, ordinary order conditions for magnetic material enterprises, average acceptance of high-priced metals, low inquiry activity, and a stalemate in market transactions. Additionally, magnetic material enterprises have a certain amount of metal inventory to support their production plans, further suppressing the procurement demand for Pr-Nd alloy. Due to low demand for dysprosium-iron alloy and terbium metal caused by export controls, combined with some suppliers actively selling at lower prices, prices have slightly declined, and the trading atmosphere in the dysprosium-terbium market has been sluggish.

Rare Earth Permanent Magnets:

The prices of NdFeB blanks are as follows: NdFeB blank N38 (Ce) is quoted at 143-153 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40M is quoted at 189-199 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40H is quoted at 193-203 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 45SH (Ce) is quoted at 243-263 yuan/kg.

This week, the prices of NdFeB blanks have fluctuated slightly. In the first half of the week, influenced by the slight increase in metal prices, magnetic material enterprises slightly raised their quotes for blanks. In the second half of the week, as metal prices slowly pulled back, blank prices stabilized and slightly declined. Due to the ongoing situation of restricted export trade, the competitive pressure on magnetic material enterprises in the domestic market has not yet been alleviated. Under the dual pressures of profit compression and upstream metal suppliers' refusal to budge on prices, some magnetic material enterprises have suspended the production of low-priced orders. The activity in the magnetic material trading market has been poor, and the demand for metal procurement has decreased.

Rare Earth Scrap:

This week, the price of Pr-Nd recycled from NdFeB scrap closed at 483-488 yuan/kg; the price of dysprosium recycled from NdFeB scrap closed at 1,610-1,621 yuan/kg; the price of terbium recycled from NdFeB scrap closed at 5,439-5,495 yuan/kg.

This week, the scrap market remained stable at high levels. Last Friday, the gradual depletion of low-priced ore supplies led to difficulties in procurement for separation enterprises, causing the cost of oxides to rise continuously. Meanwhile, market speculation on favorable policy news drove up the prices of oxides, which in turn pushed up the prices in the scrap market. Stimulated by the high prices, market activity increased WoW, with actual trading volume and scrap circulation also significantly improving. Despite the weakening end-use demand, which led to an overall pullback in rare earth market prices, the prices in the scrap market remained temporarily stable due to fierce competition.

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