Rare Earth Prices Continue to Be in the Doldrums, with Intense Tug-of-War Between Upstream and Downstream [SMM Rare Earth Daily Review]

SMM August 5: Rare earth prices continued to be in the doldrums today. Specifically, in the oxide market, Pr-Nd oxide price fell by 6,500 yuan/mt, dysprosium oxide fell by 10,000 yuan/mt, terbium oxide fell by 35,000 yuan/mt, gadolinium oxide fell by 6,500 yuan/mt, holmium oxide fell by 7,500 yuan/mt, and erbium oxide stayed flat.

In the metal market, Pr-Nd alloy price fell by 5,000 yuan/mt, dysprosium-iron alloy fell by 15,000 yuan/mt, terbium metal fell by 50,000 yuan/mt, gadolinium-iron alloy fell by 7,000 yuan/mt, holmium-iron alloy price fell by 5,000 yuan/mt, and lanthanum-cerium metal (alloy grade) stayed flat.

In markets outside China, FOB price of praseodymium oxide fell $2/kg this week, FOB price of neodymium oxide fell $5/kg this week, FOB price of terbium oxide fell $10/kg this week, FOB price of dysprosium oxide stayed flat this week, FOB price of praseodymium metal fell $2/kg this week, FOB price of neodymium metal fell $2/kg this week, and FOB price of terbium metal fell $20/kg this week.

Currently, rare earth prices continued to be in the doldrums. Focusing on the Pr-Nd market, affected by the continuous pullback in Pr-Nd oxide futures prices, some oxide suppliers continued to lower their offers, but plants showed low willingness to quote, leading to an overall sluggish trading atmosphere in the spot market, with weak actual transactions. In the metal market, under the transmission of continuously weakening oxide prices, metal enterprises followed suit and lowered their quotes. However, downstream magnetic material enterprises maintained a strong wait-and-see sentiment, inquiry activities remained scarce, and overall trading was stagnant, with intense tug-of-war between upstream and downstream.

In the medium-heavy rare earth market, due to persistently sluggish downstream inquiries and low inquiry prices, prices of dysprosium, terbium, gadolinium, holmium, and other products declined to varying degrees. The wait-and-see sentiment was strong, and actual transactions performed poorly. Overall, affected by factors such as poor downstream orders and weak purchase willingness of magnetic material enterprises, the rare earth market continued to face pressure on inquiries, with an intense tug-of-war between upstream and downstream. Coupled with the persistently weakening Pr-Nd oxide futures prices, rare earth prices continued to be in the doldrums, with actual trading performing poorly. In the short term, impacted by the stalemate in market trading, Pr-Nd product prices are likely to move sideways.