Environmental Inspections Increase PR/Nd Oxide Prices in China

Before the arrival of the central government inspectors this week, the local government held a meeting on March 18 and Ganzhou has closed a number of waste magnet recycling companies. The closure may continue until the end of this month.

Ganzhou is China's largest production base of medium and heavy rare earths. The city also has many recycling plants for magnet shavings, which contain praseodymium-neodymium oxide.The output of Ganzhou praseodymium-neodymium oxide using magnet scrap as the main raw material is about 400-500 tons/month, which is 15-20% of China's primary oxide output. The country's rare earth mining products in the first half of 2021 include 72,510 tons of light rare earths, of which 20% or 14,500 tons are used for praseodymium-neodymium oxide.

The Ganzhou praseodymium and neodymium oxide producer said: "Due to lack of confidence in environmental facilities, most recycling plants in the city tend to suspend operations until the end of the inspection." At the end of this month.The 99% neodymium praseodymium oxide price range assessed by Argus is currently 585,000-595,000 yuan/ton ($89,745-91,279/t), which is higher than yesterday's 580,000-585,000 yen/ton and 575,000-585,000/ton. Shipped on March 19. It was followed by the production interruption in Ganzhou and the stable inventory demand of metal processing plants that maintained a high operating rate.

Market participants expect that due to tighter spot supply, the price of neodymium praseodymium oxide will rise above 600,000 yen/ton ex-factory this week.From March 19 to 23, the ex-factory price of 99% neodymium praseodymium metal evaluated by Argus ranges from 725,000-735,000 yen/ton, and the ex-factory price is 720,000-730,000 yen/ton. The profit margin of metal processing plants is getting lower and lower, because the rise in metal prices has not made up for the rise in the cost of oxide raw materials.