“In August, magnetic material orders increased, downstream demand increased, and rare earth prices steadily rebounded. However, the increase in raw material prices has compressed the profits of midstream enterprises, suppressed procurement enthusiasm, and led to cautious replenishment by enterprises. At the same time, the price of waste recycling has increased, and the quotation of waste separation enterprises has been firm. Affected by the news of Myanmar’s closure, the prices of medium and heavy rare earths have continued to increase, while fear of high prices has emerged, leading to an increase in wait-and-see businesses. Overall, rare earth prices may maintain stable growth in September.”
Rare earth market situation
In early August, downstream demand increased, and holders made tentative shipments. However, there was sufficient inventory in the market and there was significant upward pressure, resulting in overall stable rare earth prices. In the middle of the year, due to the decrease in imported raw materials and production of upstream products, market inventory gradually decreased, market activity increased, and rare earth prices began to increase. With the delivery of goods, market procurement has slowed down, and the prices of raw materials and finished products of rare earth metals are still upside down, resulting in a narrow range of fluctuations in rare earth prices in late October. However, the import channels of raw materials are still affected, and the environmental inspection team is alsostationed in Ganzhou. The price of medium and heavy rare earths is less affected.
At present, the export volume in July continues to grow, and downstream and terminal industries are optimistic about product sales during the “Golden Nine Silver Ten” period, which has a certain positive effect on the confidence of rare earth market merchants. At the same time, the newly announced listing prices of northern rare earths have also been raised to some extent, and overall, the rare earth market may maintain stable growth in September.
Price trends of mainstream products
The price changes of mainstream rare earth products in August are shown in the figure above. The price of praseodymium neodymium oxide increased from 469000 yuan/ton to 500300 yuan/ton, an increase of 31300 yuan/ton; The price of metal praseodymium neodymium increased from 574500 yuan/ton to 614800 yuan/ton, an increase of 40300 yuan/ton; The price of dysprosium oxide increased from 2.31 million yuan/ton to 2.4788 million yuan/ton, an increase of 168800 yuan/ton; The price of terbium oxide has increased from 7201300 yuan/ton to 8012500 yuan/ton, an increase of 811200 yuan/ton; The price of holmium oxide increased from 545100 yuan/ton to 621300 yuan/ton, an increase of 76200 yuan/ton; The price of high-purity gadolinium oxide increased from 288800 yuan/ton to 317600 yuan/ton, an increase of 28800 yuan/ton; The price of ordinary gadolinium oxide increased from 264300 yuan/ton to 298400 yuan/ton, an increase of 34100 yuan/ton.
Import and export data
According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, in July 2023, the import volume of China’s rare earth minerals and related products (rare earth metal minerals, mixed rare earth carbonate, unlisted rare earth oxide, and unlisted rare earth compounds) exceeded 14000 tons. China’s rare earth imports continued to lead the world, with a year-on-year increase of 55.7% and an import value of 170 million US dollars. Among them, the imported rare earth metal ore was 3724.5 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 47.4%; The quantity of unnamed rare earth compounds imported was 2990.4 tons, 1.5 times that of the same period last year. The quantity of unlisted rare earth oxide imported was 4739.1 tons, 5.1 times that of the same period last year; The quantity of imported mixed rare earth carbonate is 2942.2 tons, 68 times that of the same period last year.
According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, in July 2023, China exported 5356.3 tons of rare earth permanent magnet products, with an export value of 310 million US dollars. Among them, the export volume of quick-setting permanent magnets is 253.22 tons, the export volume of neodymium iron boron magnetic powder is 356.577 tons, the export volume of rare earth permanent magnets is 4723.961 tons, and the export volume of other neodymium iron boron alloys is 22.499 tons. From January to July 2023, China exported 36000 tons of rare earth permanent magnet products, an increase of 15.6% year-on-year, with a total export value of 2.29 billion US dollars. The export volume has increased by 4.1% compared to 5147 tons last month, but the export volume has slightly decreased.
Post time: Sep-07-2023