It seems as if there is still a lot of fighting against the illegal mining and smuggling of materials, as you can see from the price table at the end of this report. The other reason is that the industry is consolidating within China, preventing more accurate control of production. The consolidation, with the exception of Ce and La, may also be a sign that some producers have reduced production during the summer months.
In China there is increasing talk of a national supply, which mainly concerns the magnetic and phosphorus materials Pr / Nd, Tb, Dy and Eu. This could also explain the stabilization of prices for these materials domestically. Until further announcements are made regarding this program, suppliers are cautious about selling these materials.
The North American Rare Earth Mining and Processor Company Great Western Minerals Group has reported to the US Department of Defense in a report that the military demand for high purity Yttrium 40 is up to 50 tonnes higher than previously stated and that there are processing gaps in the supply chain gives.
The report highlights the gap for the period 2011-2015. It was commissioned by the government and created in close collaboration with US defense companies. The report states that the average military demand ranges from 166 tons on the low estimate to up to 238 tons on the high estimate. "In addition to the growing size of the military requirements, our report concludes that newly mined and recycled yttrium in the US will not be able to meet the requirements until 2019," said GWMG President and CEO Marc LeVier.
At the same conference, Mike Vaisey of Lynas pointed out that access to water was an important factor in choosing the location of their subsidiary in Malaysia. According to statements in the past, Lynas had looked at a location in Perth, Australia. However, this did not provide enough water.
Australia-based Greenland Minerals and Energy (GMEL) announced in a statement that the company will receive up to € 375.000 million from a European Union-funded metallurgical and logistical studies project related to the Kvanefjeld Rare Earth Project ,
The project is funded by EURARE - an EU-funded initiative that was founded in January 2013 - and has a budget of 9.000.000 € for the 60ig-month initiative. GMEL is one of four rare earth promoters involved in the project, which was developed to create a rare earth supply chain for European industry. Other participants include universities and industrial companies that have an interest in rare earths.
Discarded ore from old mines could be a valuable resource for rare earths and other critical materials, according to the US Geological Survey and the US Department of Energy. According to the research, both organizations said they were surprised to discover that many critical elements could be in sight between the carelessly discarded material from the old US mines.
The USGS said that at that time, ores in the old mines were only investigated for metals mined at that time, saying that extracting critical elements from these discarded materials could be a win-win situation for the US , Thus, this discovery reveals a new source of critical materials within the US that could easily be exploited within US borders. Based on personal experience, there have been studies of, for example, iron ore occurrences in Missouri, but they are not mining and metallurgically attractive for commercialization.
US Rare Mining & Milling Company Molycorp said that any decision to accelerate the production level on Phase 2 of the Mountain Pass Mine and the processing plant in California would be based on a recovery in demand. Speaking at the Critical Minerals 2013 conference in Perth, West Australia, chairman Ross Bhappu said that as soon as the decision to move to Phase 2 is over, the company would be able to accelerate to a larger "pretty fast" run rate.
He said the company's cash position would remain in "good shape" and that the plant and mine were operating as planned with only minor design issues.
He added that the filtration plant had caused some problems for the company, but the old technology had already been exchanged for another one. Furthermore, the Chlorakali plant would be the primary bottleneck at the moment, which would be resolved by the end of the third quarter.
domestic market - As already mentioned, domestic prices have been stabilized. China's MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) is looking for cooperating governments to continue work against illegal RE operations.
Pr / Nd metal - Some 99% praseodymium / neodymium metal were recently sold at around RMB430.000 / ton. Many suppliers are not interested in selling supplies now due to higher price expectations of around RMB500,000 / ton in the next few weeks.
Dy oxide - The business was very low with sales of small quantities of 2,200-2,300 RMB / kg. Suppliers keep their inventories and the last prices were quoted at around 2.600 RMB / kg.
Eu oxide - Prices have risen by 50% to 4.500-5.000 RMB / kg in the last month. Many vendors are expecting further price increases in the near future and are currently holding back on selling larger volumes.
Tb oxide - Demand in the market is low due to the summer holidays.
La metal - Domestic prices have been around 50-53 RMB / kg, which corresponds to a small change in demand, if any.
He oxide - Surprisingly, prices have risen by 50% + over the last month with price jumps from $ 50 to $ 80-90 per 50 / kg. Demand is lower, especially on the part of European consumers during the summer holiday season.
Exports - Price Summary July Report. All blue numbers have fallen in comparison to June Report. No color means no change and green means rise.
As you can see, the international prices for Ce and La keep falling. We expect that to be the case for the remainder of this year as Lynas and possibly Molycorp add overcapacity to the market. Most domestic prices rose, which some claim is due to the increase in production from illegal mining. But it could also be a sign of falling overstock in the system.
| Product | Purity | Domestic Rmb / kg | FOB China $ / kg | Europe C $ / kg |
| Ce carb. | 45% | 14-15 | $ 4.80-5.10 | |
| CeO2 | 99% | 27-29 | $ 6.50-7.00 | $ 6.50-7.50 |
| Dy metal | 99% | 2,700-2,900 | $ 610-660 | |
| Dy2O3 | 99% min | 2,200-2,300 | $ 480-530 | |
| Eu2O3 | 99.9% min | 4,000-4,200 | $ 850-900 | |
| DyFe | 80% Dy | 2,250-2,350 | $ 480-530 | |
| Gd2O3 | 99% min | 178-183 | $ 44-49 | |
| La2O3 | 99% min | 27-30 | $ 6.30-6.80 | |
| La2O3 | 99.999% | 50-53 | $ 15-18 | |
| Nd metal | 99% min | 380-390 | $ 75-85 | $ 85-95 |
| Nd2O3 | 99% min | 305-315 | $ 57-60 | $ 60-65 |
| Pr metal | 99% min | 470-480 | $ 75-85 | |
| Pr6O11 | 99% min | 450-460 | $ 88-92 | |
| Pr-Nd metal | 99% min | 415-425 | $ 83-88 | |
| Pr-Nd oxides | 99% min | 320-330 | $ 58-61 | |
| Sm2O3 | 99% min | 28-33 | $ 7-11 | |
| Tb4O7 | 99% min | 3,600-3,700 | $ 700-750 | |
| Tb metal | 99% min | 4,600-4,800 | $ 950-1,050 | |
| Y2O3 | 99.999% | 67-72 | $ 19-23 | $ 23-25 |
| Product | Purity | Domestic Rmb / kg | FOB China $ / kg | Europe C $ / kg |
| Ce carb. | 45% | 14-15 | $ 5.90-6.20 | |
| CeO2 | 99% | 27-29 | $ 7-7.50 | $ 7.50-10 |
| Dy metal | 99% | 2,100-2,300 | $ 580-630 | |
| Dy2O3 | 99% min | 1,200-1,250 | $ 460-510 | |
| Eu2O3 | 99.9% min | 3 ,, 100-3,200 | $ 850-950 | |
| DyFe | 80% Dy | 1,200-1,250 | $ 460-510 | |
| Gd2O3 | 99% min | 115-118 | $ 44-49 | |
| La2O3 | 99% min | 27-30 | $ 6.80-7.30 | |
| La2O3 | 99.999% | 53-58 | $ 17-20 | |
| Nd metal | 99% min | 340-350 | $ 75-80 | $ 85-95 |
| Nd2O3 | 99% min | 245-255 | $ 57-60 | $ 60-65 |
| Pr metal | 99% min | 440-450 | $ 75-85 | |
| Pr6O11 | 99% min | 340-360 | $ 72-75 | |
| Pr-Nd metal | 99% min | 323-333 | $ 74-79 | |
| Pr-Nd oxides | 99% min | 245-250 | $ 62-65 | |
| Sm2O3 | 99% min | 28-33 | $ 8-13 | |
| Tb4O7 | 99% min | 2,350-2,450 | $ 700-800 | |
| Tb metal | 99% min | 3,800-4,000 | $ 1,050-1,150 | |
| Y2O3 | 99.999% | 49-54 | $ 19-23 | $ 20-25 |
Below are the new prices published by the Ganzhou RE Association for South China Sound. As you can see, in July there was a huge increase in the price of the concentrate. This is attributed to the crackdown on illegal mining. This, of course, will affect RE prices in the coming months
Concentrate is usually 92% REO
| March | April | May | June | The first helped of July | Current prices | |
| Medium Y and rich Eu concentrate | 175,000 | 170,000 | 150,000 | 140,000 | 140,000 | 250,000 |
| High Y concentrate in Longnan | 210,000 | 200,000 | 180,000 | 160,000 | 160,000 | 270,000 |
| High Yttrium concentrate in Anyuan | 180,000 | 175,000 | 155,000 | 145,000 | 145,000 | 260,000 |
| Low Y and low Eu concentrate in Xunwu | 90,000 | 90,000 | 90,000 | 80,000 | 80,000 | 180,000 |
