Global rare earths short-term outlook July 2023

Prices for key magnet rare earths continued to struggle amidst weak purchasing activity from downstream magnet manufacturers and sufficient supply of feedstock material. Nd-pr prices declined by 9.3% month-on-month in July, while dysprosium showed greater resilience, declining by 1.7% due to stockpiling efforts and increased trading activity. We expect prices to remain subdued until late 2023, when order placement ramps up ahead of the spring festival closures in China. The ROW pipeline of developing projects continues to expand as governments around the world look to improve supply chain security. Some developers have turned to alternative development schedules, delaying the construction of refining capacity to reduce the initial upfront capital expenditure. This hopes to accelerate the path to production. While others are seeking rare earth extraction from alternative sources of feedstock such as phosphogypsum stacks or mineral sand deposits to bolster future supply.