1. With the strong market driven by rare earths in October, the leading light rare earth company, China Northern Rare Earth, continued to maintain high listing prices, with listing prices for multiple products increasing by over 3% month-on-month. 2. China Northern Rare Earth stated that recent market demand has shown improvement, with the company's upstream raw material industry operating at full capacity. 3. Sinolink Research Reports stated that Q4 is the peak season for production and sales of new energy vehicles throughout the year, and they continue to be bullish on the price rebound of rare earths in Q4.
Finance Associated Press, October 8th - Rare earths continue to maintain high listing prices in October, driven by the strong market performance during the "golden September" period. Industry insiders believe that rare earth prices in Q4 this year are expected to be on an upward trend.
On October 8th, China Northern Rare Earth's official website released the listed prices of rare earth products for October. The Finance Associated Press noted that this month, China Northern Rare Earth increased the listed prices of multiple products, with the month-on-month increases in prices of praseodymium neodymium oxide, neodymium oxide, and praseodymium neodymium metal all exceeding 3%.
Specifically, in October, the prices of praseodymium neodymium oxide, neodymium oxide, praseodymium neodymium metal, and neodymium metal were reported at 415,700 yuan/ton, 424,100 yuan/ton, 515,000 yuan/ton, and 525,000 yuan/ton respectively, with month-on-month increases of 3.1%, 3.04%, 3%, and 2.94% compared to September. In addition, lanthanum oxide and cerium oxide were reported at 4100 yuan/ton and 7600 yuan/ton, unchanged from the listed prices in September.
According to previous statements by China Northern Rare Earth, the company determines the listed prices of raw material products based on market prices and expectations, supply and demand conditions, and adjusts the listed prices according to changes in product market prices. The listed prices are announced in the afternoon of the publication day. An official from China Northern Rare Earth informed the Finance Associated Press that "recently, there has been an improvement in market demand, the company's upstream raw material industry is operating at full capacity, and downstream functional material production capacity utilization rates range from 70% to 80%."
It is worth mentioning that industry insiders hold an optimistic view on the future rare earth prices. A senior industry expert who preferred not to be named analyzed to the Finance Associated Press that due to lower-than-expected growth in the first two batches of rare earth indicators this year, the supply of light rare earths is declining in the fourth quarter. Currently, market demand is steadily increasing, creating a tight supply and demand situation that provides strong support for prices. Therefore, it is expected that rare earth prices will be on an upward trend in Q4. The increase in listed prices also boosts confidence in the market.
On October 8th, China Northern Rare Earth conducted an online auction for praseodymium neodymium metal at the Baotou Rare Earth Products Exchange (referred to as "Rare Earth Exchange"), where 50 tons of praseodymium neodymium metal were all filled at the fill price. This result also supported the market. The Rare Earth Exchange announcement showed that the transaction amount for the aforementioned 50 tons of praseodymium neodymium metal was 26.285 million yuan, equivalent to an average price of 525,700 yuan/ton, with a premium of about 2.08% over the October listed price.
Analyst Li Chao from Sinolink Securities stated in a research report released on October 5th that the pre-holiday praseodymium neodymium metal competitive bidding at China Northern Rare Earth was all filled, and the transaction prices have slightly increased, indicating a gradual recovery of confidence in the industry chain. Since Q4 is also the peak season for the production and sales of new energy vehicles throughout the year, they continue to be bullish on the price rebound of rare earths in Q4.
Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) rare earth analyst Yang Jiawen stated that China Northern Rare Earth's listing price in October was slightly lower than previously expected, with a small adjustment. "It may be to prevent prices from rising too quickly and affecting downstream costs. A severe downstream inversion can lead to adverse reactions, so it's better to steadily rise slowly."
In Yang Jiawen's view, although the import volume of ion ores is expected to significantly increase in October, due to the long processing time, this import growth will not immediately ease the tight supply situation of praseodymium-neodymium metals in October. In addition, coupled with the implementation of the "Rare Earth Management Regulations", companies in the rare earth industry chain generally hold positive expectations for the future supply and demand pattern of rare earths.
According to the data from China Rare Earth Industry Association, after experiencing a fluctuation and decline in the first half of this year, the rare earth price index rebounded to 180.4 points on October 8th, up 16.3% from the lowest point of 155.12 on July 26th this year.
In terms of the spot market, with the end of the National Day holiday and the start of the first trading day in October, prices of many rare earth products have increased. According to SMM data, on October 8th, the average price of praseodymium-neodymium oxide was 0.436 million yuan per ton, up 1.87% from the previous trading day, and the average price of praseodymium-neodymium metal was 0.537 million yuan per ton, up 1.61% from the previous trading day.