Market Sentiment Returns to Rationality, Rare Earth Prices Fluctuate Rangebound [SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review]

January 22 (SMM) -

Rare Earth Ore:

Today, the price range for rare earth carbonate was 54,300-54,700 yuan/mt, monazite prices adjusted to 5.9-6.05 yuan/mt, and medium-yttrium, europium-rich ore prices were around 231,000-232,000 yuan/mt. Recently, processing fee deductions in the rare earth ore segment remained high, some miners entered the holiday period early, separation plants' operating rates were not high before the holiday, demand remained insufficient, and overall market trading activity was sluggish.

Rare Earth Oxides:

Recently, lanthanum oxide prices remained stable at 4,300-4,700 yuan/mt, cerium oxide prices also continued to hold steady this week at 11,400-12,000 yuan/mt. This week, upstream oxide market quotation activity was relatively low, some traders began selling low-priced oxides, so actual transaction prices for Pr-Nd oxide started to drop back slightly overall this week. However, as separation enterprises' spot inventory of Pr-Nd oxide remained tight and they were unwilling to sell at low prices, the actual room for Pr-Nd oxide price decline was very limited. As of today, Pr-Nd oxide prices adjusted to 670,000-675,000 yuan/mt. Downstream alloy plants' procurement and stockpiling neared completion, and market trading activity was sluggish. This week, after a round of restocking in the medium-heavy rare earth market, downstream inquiry activity clearly declined. Dysprosium oxide transaction prices pulled back to 1.44-1.44 million yuan/mt this week. The terbium oxide market also saw sluggish actual trading this week, with supplier quotation ranges adjusting to 6.3-6.35 million yuan/mt. Gadolinium oxide prices showed a pullback trend as market inquiry activity declined, with quotations slightly lowered to 178,000-182,000 yuan/mt. Holmium oxide market prices fluctuated relatively little during the week, supplier quotations remained firm, but downstream procurement also decreased, with prices slightly adjusting to the range of 525,000-530,000 yuan/mt. Erbium oxide market price increases slowed down this week, with downstream procurement slowing, and its transaction prices slightly adjusted to the range of 365,000-370,000 yuan/mt this week. Yttrium oxide market inquiries were relatively active, its prices continued an upward trend this week, rising to 60,000-63,000 yuan/mt during the week.

Rare Earth Metals:

This week, Pr-Nd alloy prices fluctuated rangebound, stabilizing at 805,000-820,000 yuan/mt. Market sentiment returned to rationality this week, downstream magnetic material enterprises' procurement pace slowed, and Pr-Nd alloy market inquiries were sluggish. Although mid-week, driven by rising raw material prices, Pr-Nd alloy quotations saw a slight raise, low-priced metal from Inner Mongolia suppressed the price increase, resulting in a relatively small actual rise. In the medium-heavy rare earth market, the dysprosium-iron alloy was quoted at 1.38-1.4 million yuan/mt. As magnetic material enterprises reduced procurement activities, metal enterprises showed low enthusiasm for offering prices, and market quotations continued to be in the doldrums. Supported by rising raw material prices at the beginning of the week, terbium metal prices experienced a slight increase. However, with the pullback in raw material prices and a decrease in market inquiries, prices pulled back to 7.8-7.85 million yuan/mt. This week, gadolinium-iron alloy prices began to pull back from the start of the week due to weak downstream procurement demand. But supported by raw material costs, prices stopped falling and stabilized at 175,000-178,000 yuan/mt. Market trading performance was average, with difficult high-price transactions.

Rare Earth Permanent Magnets:

Currently, the NdFeB blank N38 (Ce) was quoted at 214-224 yuan/kg; the NdFeB blank 40M price was quoted at 260-270 yuan/kg; the NdFeB blank 40H price was quoted at 264-274 yuan/kg; the NdFeB blank 45SH (Ce) price was quoted at 314-334 yuan/kg.

This week, NdFeB prices dropped back slightly. The core reason was that prices of Pr-Nd oxide and metal, the raw materials for NdFeB, fluctuated at highs, but downstream acceptance was average. Magnetic material factories were forced to lower their quotations to maintain normal production operations. In terms of trading, market activity this week was average. On one hand, due to persistently high raw material prices, end-users exhibited a strong wait-and-see sentiment. Additionally, as the year-end approached, the progress of terminal projects slowed down, and stockpiling willingness was low. Combined, these factors led to a slow release of demand, resulting in average trading activity in the NdFeB market.

Rare Earth Scrap:

This week, the price of Pr-Nd recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 665-675 yuan/kg; the price of dysprosium recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 1,350-1,380 yuan/kg; the price of terbium recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 5,900-6,100 yuan/kg.

This week, scrap market prices fluctuated rangebound, mainly influenced by the fluctuating prices in the oxide market. At the beginning of the week, as market sentiment returned to rationality, high-priced oxide transactions cooled, and prices began to pull back. Recycling enterprises started to lower their scrap procurement offers. However, driven by stockpiling purchases from metal enterprises, oxide prices recovered. Meanwhile, the supply of tax-included scrap remained tight, and suppliers showed weak willingness to sell at low prices, forcing recycling enterprises to raise their scrap offers. However, the actual increase was limited, and currently, recycling enterprises remain cautious in their procurement.