Post-holiday rare earth prices generally rise, market trading activity shows signs of recovery [SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review]

February 26 (SMM) -

Rare earth ore:

Today, the price range of rare earth carbonate was 71,600-72,100 yuan/mt, monazite prices adjusted to 6.58-7 yuan/mt, and medium-yttrium, europium-rich ore prices were about 286,000-288,000 yuan/mt. After the Chinese New Year holiday, rare earth separation enterprises continued to push for lower prices in procurement. Although suppliers of rare earth ore significantly raised their offers in line with rising oxide prices, they still offered substantial discounts on shipments.

Rare earth oxides:

This week, the rare earth oxide market got off to a good start, with prices of various products rising significantly overall after the holiday. Lanthanum oxide prices were raised to 5,000-5,200 yuan/mt, and cerium oxide prices were also raised this week to 12,500-12,800 yuan/mt. Pr-Nd oxide market supply remained tight, and most industry participants held relatively optimistic expectations for the future market. Although post-holiday procurement activity did not improve significantly, suppliers maintained high offers. As of today, Pr-Nd oxide prices were further raised to 885,000-890,000 yuan/mt. In the medium-heavy rare earth sector, dysprosium oxide offers generally fluctuated upward, with low-priced sources hard to find. Dysprosium oxide prices were raised during the week to 1.61-1.63 million yuan/mt, but actual market transactions were limited. Terbium oxide suppliers also continued to raise their offers, with prices adjusted to 6.5-6.55 million yuan/mt. Buyers mainly made tentative inquiries and bought on dips. Gadolinium oxide prices also rose with the market, and low-priced sources tightened quickly, with supplier offers increasing to 255,000-260,000 yuan/mt. Holmium oxide market offers also continued to rise, with prices adjusted to the range of 560,000-570,000 yuan/mt. Erbium oxide suppliers maintained firm offers, and low-priced sources were scarce in the market, with prices further raised after the holiday to 400,000-410,000 yuan/mt. Yttrium oxide prices remained firm, with market prices stabilizing during the week in the range of 68,000-70,000 yuan/mt.

Rare earth metals:

This week, Pr-Nd alloy prices rose significantly, increasing to 1.08-1.1 million yuan/mt. This week, the first week after the holiday, the tight supply of Pr-Nd oxide was not alleviated. Upstream suppliers showed weak willingness to sell at low prices, leading to relatively firm offers for Pr-Nd alloy, supported by significantly increased raw material costs. At the beginning of the week, wait-and-see sentiment prevailed in the metal market, with downstream buyers mainly making tentative inquiry-based purchases. Although Pr-Nd alloy prices were raised, no actual transactions followed initially. As end-users began restocking for rigid demand, inquiry and procurement activities from downstream magnetic material enterprises increased, and Pr-Nd alloy gradually saw actual transactions follow, with prices rising further. In the medium-heavy rare earth metal market, dysprosium-iron alloy was quoted at 1.57-1.6 million yuan/mt. Influenced by increased inquiry and procurement activities from magnetic material enterprises and rising raw material costs, metal enterprises significantly raised their offers. However, due to limited acceptance of high-priced metals among downstream magnetic material enterprises, actual transactions were limited. The price of terbium metal was also affected by the increased inquiry activities from magnetic material enterprises, with suppliers continuously raising their quotations. However, downstream inquiries were mostly tentative, and the price was raised to 8,000,000-8,050,000 yuan/mt. Gadolinium-iron alloy, driven by the continuous price increases of Pr-Nd products this week, saw suppliers holding back goods with a bullish outlook, showing weak willingness to sell at low prices, and collectively raising their quotations, with the price rising to 250,000-255,000 yuan/mt.

Rare Earth Permanent Magnets:

Currently, NdFeB blank N38 (Ce) was quoted at 241-251 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40M was quoted at 287-297 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40H was quoted at 291-301 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 45SH (Ce) was quoted at 341-361 yuan/kg.

This week, NdFeB prices rose rapidly, primarily due to the continuous substantial increases in the prices of raw materials for NdFeB, namely praseodymium-neodymium oxide and metal, which drove magnetic material plants to continuously raise their external quotations. In terms of transactions, market activity recovered somewhat this week. On one hand, after the Chinese New Year holiday, downstream motor plants and end-users restocked based on rigid demand, leading to an increase in inquiry frequency. On the other hand, influenced by the ongoing rise in rare earth prices, some downstream producers, concerned about further price increases, restocked in advance. The combination of these factors contributed to a recovery in the NdFeB market this week.

Rare Earth Scrap:

This week, Pr-Nd recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 820-830 yuan/kg; dysprosium recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 1,450-1,470 yuan/kg; terbium recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 5,900-6,100 yuan/kg.

This week, scrap market prices showed significant increases: prices for scrap Pr-Nd, dysprosium, and terbium all rose, mainly driven by the continuous increase in oxide prices. Before the holiday, some magnetic material enterprises collectively sold their scrap inventories to cope with procurement pressures caused by high metal prices. In the first week after the holiday resumption, the overall circulation volume in the scrap market was low, while oxide prices increased significantly. Recycling enterprises simultaneously raised their procurement quotations for scrap. However, due to the current difficulty in procuring scrap and the limited actual transactions in the oxide market, recycling enterprises adopted a strong wait-and-see sentiment, and quotations began to stabilize.