June 11 news flash:
Rare Earth Ores:
Today, the price range of rare earth carbonate was 55,900-56,100 yuan/mt, monazite prices temporarily stabilized at 4.1-4.3 yuan/mt, and medium-yttrium, europium-rich ore prices were around 232,000-233,000 yuan/mt. Currently, the market circulation of rare earth ores remains unsatisfactory, with low procurement volumes from separation plants, leading to sluggish trading activity and actual transaction prices for rare earth ores pulling back slightly.
Rare Earth Oxides:
In the light rare earth sector, lanthanum oxide prices saw no fluctuations this week, stabilizing at 5,200-5,800 yuan/mt. The cerium oxide market recently started to rise, with prices raised to 15,000-15,500 yuan/mt during the week. Affected by news factors, some industry insiders expect that Pr-Nd oxide supply will increase significantly in H2. Consequently, downstream metal plants showed low purchase willingness, leading to a slight decline in Pr-Nd oxide offers. As of today, Pr-Nd oxide prices fluctuated and pulled back to 690,000-693,000 yuan/mt.
In the medium-heavy rare earth sector, dysprosium oxide suppliers held firm on quotes, but metal plants' orders failed to follow up in time. This week, dysprosium oxide prices temporarily stabilized in the 1.32-1.35 million yuan/mt range. The terbium oxide market continued to be affected by news factors and large-scale procurement by major plants this week, with prices still rising significantly. Suppliers raised quotes sharply to 6.18-6.2 million yuan/mt during the week. Gadolinium oxide prices fluctuated within a relatively small range overall this week, with a tug-of-war between upstream and downstream leading to a stalemate. Some traders proactively sold at low prices, and gadolinium oxide prices fluctuated downward to 200,000-204,000 yuan/mt. Holmium oxide prices rose rapidly this week, with active downstream inquiries, and prices were quickly raised to the 555,000-565,000 yuan/mt range during the week. Erbium oxide suppliers also raised quotes notably, low-priced supplies tightened quickly, and as of today, erbium oxide prices rose to the 450,000-455,000 yuan/mt range. The yttrium oxide market saw sluggish inquiries and procurement, suppliers proactively lowered quotes, and 5N yttrium oxide prices dropped to 53,000-56,000 yuan/mt this week.
Rare Earth Metals:
This week, cerium metal prices held steady overall, adjusting to 33,000-34,000 yuan/mt. Pr-Nd alloy prices continued to decline this week, adjusting to 835,000-843,000 yuan/mt as of today. At the beginning of the week, market inquiries were sluggish, a tug-of-war between upstream and downstream led to a stalemate, and prices moved steadily. Mid-week, dragged down by low tender prices from large magnetic material plants, downstream pushed harder for lower prices, and suppliers gradually loosened their quotes. However, oxide offers remained relatively high, making it difficult for metal enterprises to sell at costs corresponding to raw materials, resulting in losses. Market trading remained weak. In the medium-heavy rare earth market, dysprosium-iron alloy was quoted at 1.27-1.3 million yuan/mt. Prices were in the doldrums overall this week, edged up slightly at the beginning of the week supported by raw material costs, but fell short of expectations at mid-week tender prices from large magnetic material producers, with some metal suppliers slightly lowering their quotations. Terbium metal prices were raised to 7.68-7.7 million yuan/mt. Inquiry activity improved this week, and coupled with higher raw material prices, suppliers raised their quotations accordingly. However, follow-through on high-price transactions was insufficient, and downstream wait-and-see sentiment was relatively strong. Gadolinium-iron alloy prices pulled back this week, mainly due to fewer downstream inquiry and procurement activities, combined with weak Pr-Nd product prices, leading to sluggish actual trading. Prices were lowered to 190,000-195,000 yuan/mt.
Rare earth permanent magnets:
Currently, NdFeB blank N38 (Ce) was quoted at 213-223 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40M was quoted at 259~269 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40H was quoted at 263-273 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 45SH (Ce) was quoted at 313~333 yuan/kg. Price-wise, NdFeB prices remained stable this week, primarily due to raw material prices remaining stable, which supported the stability of NdFeB price quotations. Transaction-wise, the willingness of electric motor and end-user sectors to restock was low, with only just-in-time procurement maintained. Large-scale stockpiling was difficult to advance in the short term, resulting in average market trading volumes.
Rare earth scrap:
This week, Pr-Nd recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 720-730 yuan/kg; dysprosium recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 1,220-1,240 yuan/kg; terbium recycled from NdFeB scrap was quoted at 5,500-5,700 yuan/kg.
The scrap market prices remained relatively stable overall this week, mainly affected by relatively firm oxide quotations. During the week, Pr-Nd oxide prices were in the doldrums, and procurement quotations from recycling enterprises remained relatively stable. As tax compliance inspections tightened, recycling enterprises largely suspended purchases of untaxed scrap, while suppliers of taxed scrap showed low willingness to sell at low prices. However, with Pr-Nd oxide prices overall in the doldrums, recycling enterprises faced losses on procurement costs, leading to a stalemate in actual procurement prices and an intense tug-of-war between upstream and downstream.
