Rare Earth Prices Remain Stable, Market Wait-and-See Sentiment Strong [SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review]

November 6 update:

Rare earth ore:

Today, the price range for rare earth carbonate was 43,700-44,100 yuan/mt, monazite prices were adjusted to 49,500-51,500 yuan/mt, and medium-yttrium, europium-rich ore prices were around 207,000-209,000 yuan/mt. Recently, there has been a slight increase in quotations for rare earth ore products, but with no significant improvement in the operation of separation plants, the trading volume in the rare earth ore market remains relatively sluggish, and TC minus for ion-adsorption ore is still relatively high.

Rare earth oxides:

Recently, the prices of lanthanum oxide and cerium oxide have shown relatively small fluctuations, with lanthanum oxide prices holding steady at 4,300-4,700 yuan/mt, and cerium oxide prices slightly increasing this week to 11,200-12,000 yuan/mt. Pr-Nd oxide prices showed an initial rise followed by a decline this week. Influenced by news factors, supplier quotations quickly increased, but from the perspective of actual downstream demand, this news did not significantly boost procurement enthusiasm. As a result, some suppliers, lacking confidence, lowered their selling prices, and as of today, Pr-Nd oxide prices have dropped back slightly to 540,000-543,000 yuan/mt. This week, under the influence of news, dysprosium oxide quotations remained firm, but some suppliers expressed a lack of optimism about future dysprosium oxide prices, which are currently fluctuating within the 1.55-1.59 million yuan/mt range. The terbium oxide market also remained relatively sluggish, with relatively small price fluctuations, and as of now, its quotation is maintained at 6.6-6.65 million yuan/mt. Holmium oxide prices this week were also relatively stable, still operating within the 498,000-502,000 yuan/mt range, and erbium oxide prices continued to stabilize within the 336,000-338,000 yuan/mt range. Yttrium oxide prices this week remained stable at 45,000-47,000 yuan/mt, with little market fluctuation.

Rare earth metals:

This week, Pr-Nd alloy prices remained stable at a high level, and as of now, Pr-Nd alloy prices have risen to 660,000-668,000 yuan/mt. At the beginning of the week, driven by the heat of market news, trading conditions improved, low-priced supplies tightened rapidly, leading to a quick rise in Pr-Nd alloy prices. As market enthusiasm waned, downstream purchasing sentiment turned cautious, with most adopting a strategy of seeking low-cost restocking based on necessity. Approaching the weekend, a major magnetic material factory issued a tender for Pr-Nd alloy, stimulating more inquiries and purchases in the metal market, but downstream order situations could not support high metal prices, resulting in overall stable Pr-Nd alloy prices. In the medium-heavy rare earth market, terbium metal closed at 8.25-8.3 million yuan/mt, and dysprosium-iron alloy closed at 1.5-1.52 million yuan/mt. Although some magnetic material enterprises tendered for medium-heavy rare earth metals this week, their acceptance of high-priced metals was limited, leading to a slight decrease in the prices of metals such as dysprosium and terbium. Meanwhile, market inquiries did not increase due to the tenders from magnetic material enterprises, and downstream wait-and-see sentiment remained strong, with overall market prices in the doldrums.

Rare Earth Permanent Magnets

Currently, NdFeB blank N38 (Ce) was quoted at 188-198 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40M was quoted at 234-244 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40H was quoted at 238-248 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 45SH (ce) was quoted at 288-308 yuan/kg.

This week, NdFeB quotations increased slightly, and trading activity recovered modestly. At the beginning of the week, influenced by market news, the quotations for Pr-Nd oxide and metal—core raw materials for NdFeB—rose significantly, driving up the production costs of NdFeB permanent magnets. In terms of transactions, in the first half of the week, due to expectations around policies and other news, domestic customers showed strong bullish sentiment, leading to faster order placement cycles, while overseas customer inquiries increased. In the latter half of the week, as end-users and motor manufacturers completed their necessary restocking, NdFeB permanent magnet transactions became sluggish. Overall, trading activity for NdFeB permanent magnets recovered somewhat compared to before but remained generally stable.

Rare Earth Scrap:

This week, Pr-Nd recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 565-575 yuan/kg; dysprosium recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 1,500-1,520 yuan/kg; terbium recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 5,300-5,500 yuan/kg.

This week, scrap market prices operated steadily overall, mainly due to the relatively small fluctuations in oxide prices. At the beginning of the week, influenced by heated market news, trading activity in the oxide market was relatively active, with recycling enterprises showing increased purchase willingness, raising scrap quotations and intensifying procurement efforts. However, as downstream purchasing slowed down, oxide market prices stabilized, and scrap suppliers exhibited strong wait-and-see sentiment with weak willingness to sell. Recycling enterprise quotations diverged: top-tier enterprises offered relatively higher prices to ensure normal scrap procurement, while small and medium-sized enterprises quoted relatively lower prices, purchasing as needed.