Off-season demand, coupled with weakening raw materials, led to sluggish market trading and a broad pullback in prices [SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review]

August 6 News:

Rare Earth Ores:

Recently, overall trading of rare earth ores remained sluggish. The operating rate of separation plants was low, and purchase willingness was weak. Rare earth ore prices pulled back slightly overall. As of today, the price of rare earth carbonate was in the range of 59,500-59,700 yuan/mt. Monazite prices remained relatively stable this week, at 42,000-46,000 yuan/mt. The price of medium-yttrium, europium-rich ore was about 246,000-248,000 yuan/mt.

Rare Earth Oxides:

For light rare earths, lanthanum oxide prices showed no fluctuations this week, stabilizing at 5,200-5,800 yuan/mt. Cerium oxide market prices were slightly in the doldrums, with prices adjusted down to 14,300-14,700 yuan/mt during the week. This week, Pr-Nd oxide prices pulled back further. Affected by persistently weak downstream orders combined with fluctuations in futures, trading in the Pr-Nd oxide market was sluggish. Some traders' confidence in the future was dented, leading them to actively sell at low prices. Driven by the sentiment of "rush to buy amid continuous price rise and hold back amid price downturn," the wait-and-see sentiment in the market intensified. As of today, Pr-Nd oxide prices were adjusted down to 735,000-737,000 yuan/mt.

For medium-heavy rare earths, downstream inquiries in the dysprosium oxide market pushed for lower prices aggressively. Some suppliers sold small quantities at reduced prices. Dysprosium oxide prices continued to pull back slightly this week, to the range of 1.38-1.4 million yuan/mt. Downstream demand for terbium oxide remained weak. Metal plants faced severe inverted scenarios, and purchase willingness was weak. As of today, terbium oxide market prices continued to be adjusted down to 6.65-6.7 million yuan/mt. For gadolinium oxide, suppliers sold at further reduced prices to secure transactions. While separation plants' quotations remained relatively firm, traders' selling prices declined more notably, and the actual transaction price of gadolinium oxide fell to 198,000-202,000 yuan/mt. For holmium oxide, amid difficulty in trading at high prices, suppliers' quotations also began to pull back notably this week, with prices adjusted down to the range of 592,000-598,000 yuan/mt during the week. Erbium oxide suppliers' quotations remained relatively firm, but actual transactions continued to be poor. Erbium oxide quotations temporarily stabilized in the range of 620,000-630,000 yuan/mt this week. The yttrium oxide market was relatively stable recently, with no changes in actual transactions. 5N yttrium oxide prices stabilized at 60,000-63,000 yuan/mt this week.

Rare Earth Metals:

For light rare earths, cerium metal market trading remained sluggish this week. Some suppliers actively reduced prices to sell, and prices were further adjusted down to 29,000-30,000 yuan/mt. Pr-Nd alloy prices were in the doldrums this week. Early in the week, due to limited inquiries and the continuous pullback in raw material prices, metal enterprises lowered their quotations accordingly. However, trading activities remained poor, with downstream magnetic material enterprises maintaining a strong wait-and-see sentiment. The tug-of-war between upstream and downstream was intense. As of today, suppliers' quotations were adjusted to 890,000-900,000 yuan/mt.

For medium-heavy rare earths, dysprosium-iron alloy closed at 1.34-1.36 million yuan/mt, with prices continuing in the doldrums this week, mainly influenced by the pullback in raw material prices and persistently sluggish market inquiries, leading to poor overall trading performance, as suppliers continuously lowered their quotations. Terbium metal prices pulled back to 8.2-8.3 million yuan/mt this week, as market trading sentiment remained sluggish, combined with persistently weakening oxide prices, metal enterprises' quotations were correspondingly lowered, and actual market transactions remained weak. Gadolinium-iron alloy prices continued in the doldrums this week, with overall market inquiry performance not improving, combined with the pullback in raw material prices, suppliers lowered quotations to 190,000-195,000 yuan/mt, and market trading performance was poor. Holmium-iron alloy prices were in the doldrums this week, mainly due to sluggish market inquiry activities and difficulty in concluding transactions for high-priced metals, metal enterprises slightly lowered quotations to 595,000-600,000 yuan/mt, and actual market transactions were in the doldrums.

NdFeB Blanks:

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

Price-wise, NdFeB prices declined this week, mainly because a slight drop in raw material prices drove down NdFeB quotations. Trading-wise, NdFeB market trading volume was moderate this week, mainly because as we entered the end of July, some downstream motor factories entered summer vacation mode, leading to a continuous decrease in NdFeB demand, coupled with the impact of declining upstream raw materials, the mainstream motor factories' rush to buy amid continuous price rise and hold back amid price downturn mentality continuously influenced their stockpiling pace, ultimately leading to ordinary NdFeB market trading volume.

NdFeB Scrap:

This week, Pr-Nd recycled from NdFeB scrap closed at 750-755 yuan/kg; dysprosium recycled from NdFeB scrap closed at 1,230-1,250 yuan/kg; terbium recycled from NdFeB scrap closed at 5,600-5,800 yuan/kg.

This week, the scrap market prices showed a continuous downward trend overall, mainly dragged down by the pullback in Pr-Nd oxide futures and spot prices. At the start of the week, under the influence of stable oxides, Pr-Nd scrap prices were relatively steady, but scrap suppliers took a more wait-and-see attitude toward selling, and market trading was weak. However, as oxide prices continued in the doldrums, recycling enterprises' purchase quotations were continuously lowered, and Pr-Nd scrap fell further to 750-755 yuan/kg, but suppliers were less willing to sell at low prices, the circulation of tax-included scrap decreased, recycling enterprises found it difficult to purchase, and actual transactions were poor.

Rare Earth Permanent Magnets:

Currently, NdFeB blank N38 (Ce) closed at 211~221 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40M price closed at 257~267 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 40H price closed at 261~271 yuan/kg; NdFeB blank 45SH (Ce) price closed at 311~331 yuan/kg. In terms of price, NdFeB prices edged down this week, the core reason being that the slight decline in raw material prices drove down NdFeB quotations. In terms of trading, NdFeB market trading volume remained sluggish this week, with orders from larger producers shrinking somewhat. The core reason is that in early August, production in the mainstream end-use consumption market entered the off-season, and demand for NdFeB continued to decline. Combined with the impact of the pullback in upstream raw material prices, the restocking pace of mainstream motor factories slowed down significantly, their willingness to stockpile was moderate, and NdFeB market trading volume was moderate.