[SMM Rare Earth Morning Briefing] Oxide prices diverge, metal trading is stagnant, and magnetic material demand slows down in the off-season

SMM, July 14:

Rare earth ore:

• Price: The price of medium-yttrium, europium-rich ore is about 256,000 yuan/mt, and monazite is about 44,000 yuan/mt.

• Supply and demand: Currently, the overall circulation frequency of rare earth ore remains poor, and market trading is stagnant, but the rise in oxide prices has led to an upward adjustment in the actual transaction prices of rare earth ore.

Rare earth oxides:

• Price: The price of Pr-Nd oxide edged down overall, while dysprosium oxide and terbium oxide prices remained relatively firm.

• Supply and demand: Yesterday, the inquiry and transaction situation of Pr-Nd oxide was poor; some suppliers offered goods at low prices proactively, and downstream metal plants showed weak purchase willingness.

             For medium-heavy rare earth, upstream suppliers held strong confidence in holding prices firm, but downstream metal plants had poor order situations, leading to sluggish market trading.

Rare earth metals:

• Price: Pr-Nd alloy prices pulled back, market inquiries were sluggish, dysprosium-iron alloy remained stable, and terbium metal prices continued to rise.

• Supply and demand: Yesterday, Pr-Nd alloy prices pulled back slightly. Affected by sluggish market inquiries and coupled with the pullback in raw material prices, metal plants slightly lowered their quotes, but actual trading remained stagnant. For medium-heavy rare earth, terbium metal prices continued to rise supported by oxide costs, while dysprosium-iron alloy prices held steady.

NdFeB blanks:

• Price: NdFeB blank N35 (Ce) was quoted at 215-225 yuan/kg, NdFeB blank 35M at 260-270 yuan/kg, and NdFeB 35UH at 360-380 yuan/kg.

• Supply and demand: Yesterday, NdFeB blank quotes pulled back slightly. The core reason was that the decline in raw material prices led to a lowering of blank prices. In terms of transactions, as the off-season began, end-user and motor factory production paces gradually slowed down, the release of just-in-time orders was moderate, and large-scale restocking orders were not yet effectively released, resulting in overall moderate trading volumes in the NdFeB market.

NdFeB scrap:

• Price: Prices of Pr-Nd recycled from NdFeB scrap, dysprosium recycled from NdFeB scrap, and terbium recycled from NdFeB scrap all remained stable.

• Supply and demand: Yesterday, scrap market prices remained stable. Affected by relatively small fluctuations in oxide quotes, recycling enterprises did not make significant adjustments to their procurement quotes and still mainly engaged in just-in-time procurement. Scrap suppliers were relatively cautious in shipments, and actual market transactions were moderate.