Post-Holiday Rare Earth Prices Remain Stable, Market Trading Performance Poor [SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review]

Oct. 9 (SMM) -

Rare Earth Ore:

Today, the price range for rare earth carbonate was 45,500-45,700 yuan/mt, monazite prices adjusted to 52,700-53,700 yuan/mt, and medium-yttrium, europium-rich ore prices were around 215,000-217,000 yuan/mt. Currently, prices of rare earth ore products fluctuated slightly with oxides, but purchase willingness of separation plants remained weak, and market trading activity still showed no significant improvement.

Rare Earth Oxides:

Currently, lanthanum oxide prices held steady at 4,300-4,700 yuan/mt, cerium oxide prices also remained stable this week at 11,000-11,200 yuan/mt, while Pr-Nd oxide prices rose to 562,000-565,000 yuan/mt. Before the holiday, due to news-driven factors, suppliers raised their market offers for Pr-Nd oxide, and low-priced sources tightened quickly. However, by that time, stockpiling by alloy plants had already ended, and market purchasing momentum dropped significantly. After the holiday, wait-and-see sentiment spread, so the actual transaction prices of Pr-Nd oxide did not increase substantially. In the medium-heavy rare earth segment, dysprosium oxide and terbium oxide prices generally moved steadily. Dysprosium oxide prices held up well driven by purchases from large enterprises, rising to 1.61-1.63 million yuan/mt by today, while terbium oxide prices stabilized at 7-7.05 million yuan/mt. Holmium oxide prices were also relatively stable recently, edging down to 535,000-545,000 yuan/mt, and erbium oxide prices remained stable in the range of 334,000-335,000 yuan/mt. Yttrium oxide prices continued to hold steady this week in the range of 48,000-50,000 yuan/mt, still showing no significant change.

Rare Earth Metals:

Currently, Pr-Nd alloy was quoted at 680,000-685,000 yuan/mt, showing no significant change from pre-holiday levels. Before the holiday, as the holiday approached, most magnetic material enterprises had basically completed stockpiling purchases, leading to sluggish inquiries in the metal market overall. Although some large magnetic material enterprises tendered for Pr-Nd alloy, the transaction prices were not ideal, and market price expectations declined further, resulting in a slight decrease in Pr-Nd prices. After the holiday, as magnetic material enterprises had relatively ample inventory and were affected by macro policy factors, purchasing demand from downstream magnetic material enterprises appeared weak. Overall market inquiries were sluggish, metal enterprises were less willing to offer, and actual transactions were relatively muted, with prices generally moving steadily. In the medium-heavy rare earth segment, terbium metal was quoted at 8.65-8.7 million yuan/mt, and dysprosium-iron alloy was quoted at 1.56-1.57 million yuan/mt. As purchasing activity weakened after the holiday, overall market inquiries remained sluggish, prices showed no significant fluctuation compared to pre-holiday levels, and actual transactions were in the doldrums.

Rare Earth Permanent Magnets

Currently, NdFeB blank N38 (Ce) was quoted at 200-210 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40M was quoted at 246-256 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40H was quoted at 250-260 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 45SH (ce) was quoted at 300-320 yuan/kg.

This week, the rare earth magnetic material market overall exhibited a pattern of stable prices but sluggish trading. Upstream praseodymium-neodymium oxide and metal prices continued their steady state, constructing a solid cost support for magnetic material quotations; consequently, prices of mainstream magnetic material products maintained stable operation. On the transaction front, the traditional September-October peak season is nearing its end, coupled with persistently sluggish domestic consumption, leading to significant cost reduction pressure in end-use application fields such as motors, wind power, and new energy vehicles. There is widespread caution towards current raw material prices, which, although stable, remain high compared to historical levels, resulting in weak purchase willingness and a strong wait-and-see sentiment in the market, with customers hesitant to place orders easily. Coinciding with the domestic National Day holiday, some downstream motor and end-user enterprises slowed their production pace, delaying demand release, which further intensified the sluggish trading atmosphere in the market this week.

Rare Earth Scrap:

Currently, the price of Pr-Nd recycled from NdFeB scrap is quoted at 580-585 yuan/kg; the price of dysprosium recycled from NdFeB scrap is quoted at 1,620-1,643 yuan/kg; the price of terbium recycled from NdFeB scrap is quoted at 5,439-5,550 yuan/kg.

Before the holiday, scrap market prices operated steadily. Although driven by restocking purchases from metal enterprises, low-priced sources in the oxide market tightened rapidly, leading to a slight price increase, the overall upward adjustment was limited, and quotations from recycling enterprises did not show significant fluctuations. As the National Day holiday approached, some scrap suppliers showed an increased willingness to sell, leading to a higher circulation volume in the scrap market, and actual market trading conditions improved. After the holiday, scrap market prices experienced a slight increase, mainly influenced by the slight price increase in the oxide market and a reduction in low-priced sources in the scrap market. Although recycling enterprises' purchase willingness strengthened and quotations increased slightly, due to the sluggish performance of the scrap market after the holiday, overall trading was in the doldrums, and the scrap circulation volume decreased compared to the pre-holiday period.