Rare earth prices have risen significantly, with active market transactions [SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review]

July 10 News:

Rare Earth Ores:

Today, the price range of rare earth carbonate is 36,600-36,700 yuan/mt, monazite prices have adjusted to 43,500-44,000 yuan/mt, and the price of medium-yttrium, europium-rich ore is approximately 193,000-195,000 yuan/mt. According to ore merchants, recently, the mining and transportation of ion-adsorption ores in Southeast Asia have been affected to a certain extent due to factors such as climate and local geopolitical conflicts. It is expected that the imports of rare earth ion-adsorption ores in July may see a significant reduction.

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 temporarily stabilized at 10,000-11,800 yuan/mt this week. The lanthanum-cerium market remains stable recently with no significant fluctuations. Due to the strengthening of environmental protection checks in China, some separation plants may face temporary shutdowns to comply with these checks, leading to expectations of a reduction in the market supply of Pr-Nd oxide. Meanwhile, most industry participants believe that the downstream demand for rare earths may warm up this month, and major magnetic material enterprises have been conducting tenders more frequently recently. Driven by the procurement of leading enterprises, the prices of medium-heavy rare earths have risen significantly this week, with the highest transaction price of dysprosium oxide in the market reaching 1.7 million yuan/mt. Affected by news factors, the prices of terbium oxide, holmium oxide, and erbium oxide have also risen overall this week. However, the price of yttrium oxide continues to move sideways, remaining stable at 48,000-52,000 yuan/mt this week.

Rare Earth Metals:

This week, the price of Pr-Nd alloy has risen significantly, mainly due to the impact of the issuance of export license approvals. Leading magnetic material enterprises have relatively sufficient orders, driving them to conduct centralized tenders for Pr-Nd alloy, with the tender volume significantly increasing compared to usual, leading to a rapid reduction in low-priced supplies on the market. Meanwhile, the price increase of Pr-Nd oxide has provided cost support for Pr-Nd alloy. The end-use demand has rebounded somewhat, prompting magnetic material enterprises to actively stockpile, leading to a concentrated restocking and procurement in the Pr-Nd market. However, as the procurement peak ends, market transactions slow down, and prices stabilize. In the medium-heavy rare earth sector, dysprosium-terbium products have seen suppliers raise their quotes due to the price increase in the oxide market. However, due to the focus of downstream magnetic material enterprises on the light rare earth market and weak end-use demand, downstream enterprises find it difficult to accept high-priced dysprosium-terbium. The medium-heavy rare earth market is sluggish, with low trading volume.

Rare Earth Permanent Magnets:

The prices of NdFeB blanks are as follows: NdFeB blank N38 (Ce) is priced at 146-156 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40M is priced at 191-203 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40H is priced at 196-206 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 45SH (Ce) is priced at 246-266 yuan/kg.

This week, the rare earth magnetic material market showed a mild upward trend. In terms of pricing, driven by the rising costs of upstream rare earth oxides and metals, magnetic material enterprises generally increased their quotes slightly. Additionally, due to the industry's widespread adoption of an order model based on cost-plus pricing and long-term agreements, which possesses a certain degree of price transmission resilience, the current cost pressure from upstream raw material price increases has had a relatively limited and delayed impact on the profit margins of magnetic material enterprises. On the procurement side, a clear trend of polarization emerged. Top-tier enterprises, leveraging their financial strength and positive expectations for future demand, increased both their procurement frequency and scale, stockpiling raw materials to expand their production capacity. Mid-tier enterprises adopted a conservative strategy, strictly adhering to the principle of producing based on sales, maintaining just-in-time procurement levels to ensure normal production operations. Bottom-tier enterprises, constrained by weak demand and financial pressures, continued to slow down their procurement pace, adopting a contractionary and wait-and-see approach. This week, there were positive signals in terms of transaction activity. With the gradual standardization and normalization of export approval processes, export channels have become more accessible. Some manufacturers actively responded to policy requirements through formula optimization and process adjustments, thereby promoting active negotiations and execution of export orders, driving a steady increase in the overall market transaction frequency.

Rare Earth Scrap:

This week, the price of Pr-Nd recycled from NdFeB scrap was reported at 494-499 yuan/kg; the price of dysprosium recycled from NdFeB scrap was reported at 1,610-1,621 yuan/kg; and the price of terbium recycled from NdFeB scrap was reported at 5,439-5,550 yuan/kg.

This week, the scrap market prices continued to increase, mainly influenced by the rising prices in the oxide market. Magnetic material enterprises held an optimistic outlook on the future prices of the scrap market, leading some suppliers to hold onto their inventory and adopt a wait-and-see attitude. This has made it more difficult for recycling enterprises to procure scrap, prompting some recycling enterprises to increase their procurement quotes in order to obtain more scrap. As end-use demand gradually recovers, the order situation of magnetic material enterprises has improved, and it is expected that the output of scrap will continue to increase, improving the circulation of scrap.

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