Rare Earth Prices Continue to Decline, Market Trading Activity Remains Sluggish [SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review]

Oct 16 (SMM) -

Rare Earth Ore:

Today, the price range for rare earth carbonate was 41,600-42,100 yuan/mt, monazite prices adjusted to 48,700-49,700 yuan/mt, and medium-yttrium, europium-rich ore prices were around 207,000-208,000 yuan/mt. Recently, suppliers reported low purchase willingness from separation enterprises, with actual trading volume remaining low. TC deductions for ion-adsorption ore continued to increase, further compressing profits at the ore end.

Rare Earth Oxides:

Currently, lanthanum oxide prices held steady at 4,300-4,700 yuan/mt, while cerium oxide prices saw a slight increase this week to 11,000-11,600 yuan/mt. Cerium oxide supply tightened recently, with suppliers continuously raising offers and low-priced sources hard to find. In contrast, Pr-Nd oxide prices recently plummeted. After the holiday, market news significantly impacted rare earth prices, and many suppliers lost confidence in future prices, actively cutting prices to sell. As of now, Pr-Nd oxide prices dropped to 513,000-520,000 yuan/mt. In the medium-heavy rare earth segment, dysprosium oxide prices edged up slightly, supported by ongoing purchases from large enterprises, currently trading at 1.63-1.65 million yuan/mt. The terbium oxide market was sluggish recently, with downstream procurement volume notably low, leading suppliers to lower offers slightly, with prices falling to 6.95-7 million yuan/mt. Holmium oxide prices continued to decline to 505,000-515,000 yuan/mt due to macro news reducing purchasing activity, while erbium oxide prices adjusted slightly to 334,000-337,000 yuan/mt. Yttrium oxide prices remained stable this week at 48,000-50,000 yuan/mt, showing no significant change.

Rare Earth Metals:

Currently, Pr-Nd alloy was quoted at 625,000-635,000 yuan/mt, a notable decrease from early week levels. Although a major magnetic material enterprise tendered for Pr-Nd alloy mid-week, the actual transaction price was low, dragging down market expectations. Some metal enterprises, lacking confidence in the future, actively sold at low prices, causing Pr-Nd alloy prices to continue falling. Due to the persistent weakness in Pr-Nd alloy prices, downstream magnetic material enterprises had weak purchase willingness, mostly adopting a wait-and-see approach, resulting in sluggish overall market inquiries and scarce actual transactions. In the medium-heavy rare earth segment, terbium metal was quoted at 8.65-8.7 million yuan/mt, and dysprosium-iron alloy at 1.56-1.57 million yuan/mt. Due to weak procurement demand from downstream magnetic material enterprises, overall market inquiries remained sluggish, with prices showing no significant fluctuation from early week levels and actual transactions in the doldrums.

Rare Earth Permanent Magnets:

Currently, NdFeB blank N38 (Ce) was quoted at 193-203 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40M prices were quoted at 239-249 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40H prices were quoted at 243-253 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 45SH (ce) prices were quoted at 293-313 yuan/kg.

This week, the NdFeB permanent magnet market experienced a decline in both prices and volume. The core driver of the price decrease was the continued weakness in upstream raw material prices, such as praseodymium-neodymium oxide, which directly weakened cost support for magnetic materials. Demand side, performance was sluggish, with traditional domestic sectors like wind power and air conditioning in the off-season this week, and NEV growth also slowing down, leading to insufficient operating rates among motor enterprises and low purchase willingness. This, in turn, transmitted to the magnetic material segment, resulting in low market trading activity. Additionally, the new export control policy released over the weekend intensified market wait-and-see sentiment. Against the backdrop of high uncertainty in domestic and overseas orders, magnetic material enterprises generally tended to cautiously control their sales pace. Overall, weakened raw material support, sluggish end-use demand, and policy uncertainty collectively contributed to the weak market pattern this week.

Rare Earth Scrap:

This week, Pr-Nd recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 540-545 yuan/kg; dysprosium recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 1,620-1,643 yuan/kg; terbium recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 5,439-5,550 yuan/kg.

This week, scrap market prices continued to weaken, mainly affected by the ongoing decline in oxide market prices. Due to cost considerations, recycling enterprises lowered their scrap quotations. At the beginning of the week, influenced by news factors, oxide market prices continued to fall, leading some recycling enterprises to lack confidence in the future market and start selling oxides at low prices. Meanwhile, scrap suppliers had weak willingness to sell due to the continuous decline in scrap prices. The circulation volume of scrap WoW did not show significant changes. As oxide market prices continued to decrease, recycling enterprises were unwilling to pay premiums for scrap, resulting in a relatively deadlocked trading situation in the scrap market.