Price Surges for Rare Earth for Permanent Magnet

Market price of rare earth for permanent magnet, which is used for motor of hybrid vehicle and environmental friendly appliances, surges recently due to speculative purchase. The price of metallic neodymium and metallic didymium increased by 20% in a month when suppliers try to seek higher price in China, which represents more than 90% of world supply. Some Japanese buyers hold the order to avoid high price purchase.

The price of metallic neodymium and metallic didymium is around US$ 36.5 per kilogram, which is higher than US$ 30 a month ago. Price of metallic dysprosium, which is used to improve magnet performance, increased by 25% to near US$ 200. Price of bastnaesite ore increased by 20% in the month in Sichuan, China when Chinese government squeezes illegal mining operations.

Magnet and alloy makers’ capacity utilization reaches 80% recently, according to alloy makers while the utilization was less than 50% after financial crisis in 2008. Chinese suppliers and exporters try to increase the selling price under the recovering demand.

Smaller market of rare earth is vulnerable for speculation. Annual world consumption of dysprosium represents 15-20 billion yen. The small market could be volatile with speculative purchase. A Japanese trading firm source said Chinese speculators try to secure the metals for profit taking.