[SMM Rare Earth News Brief] Belgium's Solvay has reached a supply agreement with Australia's Viridis Mining & Minerals to receive rare earth raw materials from its Colossus ion-adsorption ore project in Brazil starting in 2028, processing them into high-purity oxides at its La Rochelle plant in France, covering key magnetic material elements including neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium. This move will ensure Solvay meets Europe's growing rare earth demand, helping it achieve its goal of covering 30% of European demand by 2030, while also promoting diversification of the Western rare earth supply chain.

The ex-China rare earth market this week exhibited a trend of "falling prices amid tight supply," with Pr-Nd oxide and metal prices generally marked down by approximately $5-10/kg. However, due to export controls and tightening supply, the premium on Chinese products outside China remained significant. Meanwhile, geopolitical rivalry and supply chain restructuring accelerated, with G7 finance ministers calling for urgent reduction of dependence on China and the establishment of recycling quota systems. On the capital front, Greenland Resources spent $35 million to acquire the high-grade Sarfartoq project to strengthen its magnetic material rare earth portfolio. Australia's Arafura officially finalised the final investment decision for the Nolans project. Combined with Brazil's launch of an antitrust investigation and Germany's Heraeus divesting its recycling business, these developments underscored the urgency of global decoupling and localization efforts.

Brazil's antitrust regulator Cade launched an investigation into US rare earth company USAR's proposed acquisition of Brazilian rare earth producer Serra Verde. Serra Verde is currently Brazil's only operational rare earth mine. The transaction includes a 15-year offtake agreement between Serra Verde and a special purpose vehicle funded by US government agencies including the Department of Commerce and the Department of Energy. The agreement explicitly stipulates lowest prices for rare earth elements such as neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium.

Rare Earths and Critical Minerals: China will address U.S. concerns regarding supply chain shortages of rare earths and other critical minerals (including yttrium, scandium, neodymium, and indium). China will also address U.S. concerns regarding the prohibition or restriction of sales of rare earth production and processing equipment and technology.

[SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review: Overall Decline in Rare Earth Prices Driven by Futures Disruptions] The Pr-Nd oxide market was in the doldrums overall this week. Affected by price fluctuations in futures, traders made shipments at low prices. Meanwhile, the "rush to buy amid continuous price rise and hold back amid price downturn" sentiment intensified the wait-and-see sentiment among downstream metal plants, with poor purchase willingness. Market trading activity was very sluggish. As of today, Pr-Nd oxide prices had fluctuated downward to 745,000-750,000 yuan/mt.

[SMM Rare Earth News Flash] USA Rare Earth agreed to acquire Brazil's Serra Verde Group for $2.8 billion. The deal includes $300 million in cash and stock. After the merger, original USA Rare Earth shareholders will hold 66% and Serra Verde shareholders 34%. Serra Verde owns the Pela Ema ionic clay mine, targeting annual production of 6,400 mt of rare earth oxides by the end of 2027 with plans to double that. It has signed a 15-year offtake agreement with a US government-funded agency, locking in lowest prices for praseodymium, neodymium, dysprosium, and terbium. This acquisition accelerates the company's mine-to-magnet integrated strategy, with combined rare earth oxide capacity reaching 17,100 mt/year after the merger.

European Resources has more than doubled the resource at its Korsnäs project to 15.4 million tonnes at 1.0% rare earth oxides, up from about 7.1Mt in 2024. The deposit contains roughly 137.9 million kg of rare earths, including key EV metals like neodymium and praseodymium. The discovery strengthens Europe’s push for critical mineral supply, though the project is still in early (inferred) stage.

[SMM Rare Earth News Flash] Japan's Daikin Industries, Shin-Etsu Chemical, Hitachi, and Tokyo Eco Recycle jointly announced that they will recover rare earth magnets from commercial air conditioning compressors. They plan to develop automated equipment in 2026 and achieve full-scale operations in 2027, with a target of recovering several mt of rare earth magnets such as neodymium annually. Daikin will collect compressors, Tokyo Eco Recycle and Hitachi will be responsible for extraction, and Shin-Etsu Chemical will use recovered materials to reproduce new magnets. This initiative aims to establish Japan's first commercial air conditioning magnet recycling framework, reduce dependence on Chinese rare earths, and enhance supply chain resilience.

[SMM Overseas Rare Earths Update] Driven by rising prices in China and future expectations, mainstream rare earth prices outside China edged up this week. Praseodymium oxide FOB closed at $126-130/kg, neodymium oxide FOB closed at $157-189/kg, up $2/kg WoW, praseodymium metal FOB closed at $171-179/kg, up $5/kg WoW, and neodymium metal FOB closed at $159-179/kg, up $6/kg WoW.

[SMM Rare Earth News Flash] Australian company Energy Transition Minerals (ETM) recently stated that its application to renew the exploration license for the Kvanefjeld rare earth project in Greenland had received a draft decision of rejection from the Greenland government, on the grounds that further exploration activities could not lead to the granting of a mining license. The Kvanefjeld project holds 1.14 million mt of rare earth oxide resources, containing high-value elements such as praseodymium, neodymium, dysprosium, and terbium. The Greenland government's decision was primarily based on the 2021 Uranium Act, which prohibits the development of mineral projects with uranium content exceeding 100 ppm, while the Kvanefjeld ore body has a uranium content of 360 ppm.