Latest Update in the SMM Concentrate Market

The US's attempt to annex Greenland and the G7 Washington meeting were the focus of attention this week, and local enterprises announced their expansion plans.

[SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review: Spot Supply Remains Tight, Rare Earth Prices Continue to Rise] This week, the price of Pr-Nd oxide continued to rise rapidly. Due to factors such as tight spot supply and replenishment by leading large enterprises, suppliers significantly increased their quotes for Pr-Nd oxide. Meanwhile, purchasing parties, driven by positive expectations for future rare earth prices, conducted a round of procurement and replenishment. However, as upstream quotes kept rising, downstream purchase willingness began to show marginal decline.

Chile’s state-owned development agency Corfo has awarded up to $5.8 million to two research projects focused on direct lithium extraction (DLE) and rare earth recovery to boost mining innovation and create new business lines.

SMM January 12: In early January 2026, the domestic Pr-Nd oxide market price showed a rapid rising trend, with offers climbing to 640,000 yuan/mt, up by about 30,000 yuan/mt from before New Year's Day. The price increase resulted from cost support, tight supply, and market sentiment, but weak downstream demand also limited further upside room. The market is expected to enter a phase of fluctuating at highs.

This week, the overseas rare earth market exhibited structural divergence driven by both the tug-of-war between sellers and buyers and geopolitical factors. Prices of light rare earth varieties remained stable, while medium-heavy rare earths continued their upward trend, supported by China's export controls and resource scarcity. Events such as the G7's proposed price floor for rare earths and the implementation of Vietnam's export ban further reinforced expectations of supply chain restructuring. Capital markets showed significantly increased attention toward domestic resource development and alternative technologies.

China announced on Tuesday the decision to strengthen export controls on dual-use items destined for Japan, in accordance with the relevant provisions of laws and regulations including the Export Control Law of China.

[SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review: Rare Earth Prices Raised Across the Board, Downstream Procurement Turns Cautious] This week, the price of Pr-Nd alloy continued to rise. As of now, the price of Pr-Nd alloy has been raised to 755,000-765,000 yuan/mt. This was mainly driven by policy news on the macro front, which quickly boosted market bullish sentiment. Coupled with the rapid increase in raw material costs, the price of Pr-Nd alloy continued to climb. However, downstream magnetic material enterprises showed limited acceptance of high-priced metals, resulting in less-than-ideal trading activity in the Pr-Nd alloy market.

[SMM Announcement: Announcement on the Addition of Domestic Lanthanum Chloride Price Points] To facilitate better control of rare earth market fluctuations and timely reflection of spot cargo market prices for upstream and downstream enterprises in the rare earth industry, reduce transaction risks and costs in the rare earth market, and continuously improve and deepen research on the rare earth industry chain, SMM, after a period of consolidation and market survey, plans to begin publishing lanthanum chloride prices starting January 5 for market reference.

[SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review: Pr-Nd Prices Continue to Rise, Medium-Heavy Rare Earths Stop Falling and Recover] This week, the price of Pr-Nd alloy rose initially before dropping back slightly. As of now, Pr-Nd alloy has stabilized at 730,000-740,000 yuan/mt. At the beginning of the week, influenced by the rapid increase in oxide prices, the cost-supported price of Pr-Nd alloy experienced a slight raise. However, due to the approaching holiday, downstream magnetic material enterprises showed weak purchase willingness, and market transactions remained stagnant, leading to a slight pullback after the initial price surge. Nevertheless, raw material costs remained high, limiting the actual decline in the alloy price.

At the end of October 2025, the US-China trade rivalry took a dramatic turn. China's Ministry of Commerce announced a one-year suspension of new regulations on rare earth exports, putting on hold strict measures that would have required foreign enterprises to obtain export permits even if their products contained trace amounts of Chinese rare earths.