Rare Earth Market Update - August 21, 2024

Details: Category: Tungsten's News; Published on Wednesday, 21 August 2024 17:51

The domestic rare earth market is generally stable, with mixed sentiments among traders of light and heavy rare earths. This is mainly reflected in the continued price rise of praseodymium-neodymium (Pr-Nd), while dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb) prices are facing resistance to further increases.

Light Rare Earths: The market for light rare earths remains strong, primarily due to the increased purchasing interest from magnet companies and the limited supply of spot goods. Today, the prices of praseodymium oxide and praseodymium-neodymium oxide have both risen by approximately 2,000 CNY/ton.

Medium and Heavy Rare Earths: The medium and heavy rare earth market is showing a "price but no market" scenario. Factors such as reduced production from some rare earth mining companies, a bullish sentiment in the light rare earth market, and limited imports of China's medium and heavy rare earth products have strengthened the resolve of holders to maintain prices. However, due to slow demand from downstream industries, the market transaction volume remains low. According to customs data, from January to July 2024, China imported a total of 32,389 tons of rare earth ores and related products from Myanmar, a year-on-year decrease of 19%. In July alone, China imported 2,475 tons from Myanmar, a month-on-month decrease of 34% and a year-on-year decrease of 58%.

Industry News: Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the Ministry of Natural Resources issued the second batch of total control quotas for rare earth mining and smelting separation for 2024, set at 135,000 tons and 127,000 tons, respectively. These quotas are the same as the first batch for this year but represent increases of 15,000 tons (12.50%) and 12,000 tons (10.43%), respectively, compared to the second batch of quotas for 2023.

Prices of rare earth products on August 21, 2024