Rare earths
Overview
Rare earths or rare earth elements (REE) are crucial to modern society, driving innovation across automotives, electronics, renewable energy, healthcare, defence and aerospace, and as a catalyst in industrial and chemical processing.
As demand for highly engineered products continues to grow, manufacturers that rely on rare earths face a limited supply of marketable product outside a handful of Chinese producers.
Argus Rare Earths Analytics and Argus Non-Ferrous Markets address this unique challenge in the rare earths industry by delivering price data and forecasts through on-the-ground expertise and a proven methodology that supports long-term outlooks as well as supply and demand fundamentals.
Rare earths coverage
Argus produces more than 70 price assessments for the 17 rare earth elements, as well as delivering best-in-class data, news and analysis to support your decision making. In addition, the Argus Rare Earths Analytics service also provides market analysis and 10-year forecasts for supply, demand, prices and projects across key rare earths:
- Cerium prices
- Dysprosium prices
- Erbium prices
- Europium prices
- Gadolinium prices
- Lanthanum prices
- Mischmetal prices
- Neodymium prices
- Praseodymium prices
- Praseodymium-neodymium prices
- Samarium prices
- Terbium prices
- Yttrium prices
Latest rare earth news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global rare earth industry.
FeCr quarterly benchmark not fit for Asia: Jindal
FeCr quarterly benchmark not fit for Asia: Jindal
Mumbai, 12 September (Argus) — The ferrochrome industry has entered a new era after the quarterly benchmark system ended in June 2024 and the industry is seeking a new pricing mechanism to replace the benchmark system that had been criticised for many years . Argus spoke with Indian producer Jindal Stainless' managing director Abhyuday Jindal about what the future pricing mechanism should look like and the challenges Indian stainless steelmakers face from lower-priced Chinese imports and increased volatility in raw material costs. How are you pricing ferrochrome without a quarterly benchmark, and what future pricing mechanisms do you foresee? Even during the regime of quarterly benchmark prices, countries such as India and China were not influenced by this benchmark. Instead, they set ferro chrome prices based on realistic demand and supply. They negotiated prices close to the actual consumption. Even European consumers had been buying chrome at discounted levels than the benchmark levels because it was unrealistic. In the future, we expect the Asian model based on realistic demand and supply will continue to succeed. How has cheaper Chinese stainless steel imports impacted the margins of domestic steelmakers? Imports from China have posed a long-standing challenge to the industry. While other major stainless steel producing nations have imposed duties on Chinese imports, India has yet to take similar actions. As one of the largest and fastest-growing markets for stainless steel, India becomes a key target for dumped and subsidised imports. Continuous dumping from China puts immense pressure on MSMEs and disrupts the local manufacturing ecosystem. Additionally, it creates an uneven playing field for domestic manufacturers, often forcing many to shift from manufacturing to trading. What is the outlook for ferrochrome prices and how will this affect production costs and demand? Recently, raw material prices for stainless steel had been volatile owing to availability concerns of raw material ore. Nickel, one of the major input materials, has displayed unpredictability on the London Metals Exchange (LME) in the range of $15,000-21,000/t and now currently is around $16,000/t. Some of this volatility was driven by Ni ore prices in Indonesia. Similarly, chrome ore shortages are impacting ferrochrome availability and prices. In India, the majority of chrome ore resources are available from only two companies, of which only one has been consistent with supplies. This is the reason why we have had to resort to imports for meeting chrome requirements. By Deepika Singh Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Vale sees higher iron ore output in 2024: Update
Vale sees higher iron ore output in 2024: Update
Adds details on the new guidance in the third paragraph. Belo Horizonte, 11 September (Argus) — Brazilian mining company Vale has increased its iron ore output projection but lowered its nickel output forecast for 2024. The company expects to produce 323mn-330mn t of iron ore this year, up from the 310mn-320mn t projected in the second quarter of this year. The new guidance comes at a time when the company sees its management model implementation "bearing fruits", while operations improved productivity and margins despite pricing pressures this year, Vale said. Analysts welcomed the new projection, with the new production likely to raise the company's full year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (ebitda) consensus by 4pc, RBC Capital analysts said in a note. But it expects to produce less nickel this year, putting production at 153,000-168,000t, down from the 160,000-175,000t previously projected. The reduction in Vale's nickel output forecast follows the completion of its partial divestment in PT Vale Indonesia (PTVI), it said. By Carolina Pulice Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Q&A: India’s Jindal Stainless eyes 10pc export growth
Q&A: India’s Jindal Stainless eyes 10pc export growth
Mumbai, 11 September (Argus) — Indian stainless steel producer Jindal Stainless (JSL) is confident of strong growth in domestic and export sales in the 2024-25 fiscal year ending 31 March, as a result of a significant recovery in European demand and new supportive measures from the Indian government. Argus spoke with JSL's managing director Abhyuday Jindal about his market expectations in the coming months and the firm's sustainability plan. Edited highlights follow: What are JSL's expectations for the next quarter and for FY25? We expect a relatively modest performance in the upcoming quarter and for FY25. On the global front, despite the protectionist measures, exports are gradually picking up, particularly to Europe, and we have now extended our reach to Japan and Korea. Looking at the current global scenario, we are expecting 10pc export projections for this fiscal year. In Europe, the recovery is more noticeable in western countries such as Germany, Italy, and France, although it remains relatively modest. Domestically, we expect a robust demand, bolstered by the government's annual infrastructure budget of 11.11 trillion rupees ($132.2bn). This presents a significant growth opportunity, particularly as we have started manufacturing stainless steel long products. How is the removal of import duties on raw materials benefiting the growth of the stainless steel industry? The removal of duty on ferro-nickel is expected to make the stainless steel industry more competitive. It will especially help the suppliers in India to develop, as now they will have multiple options across the globe to source the raw material and produce desired outcomes. How much does government support and policies positively impact the steel sector? The Indian government has shown support for our industry through initiatives like the Production Linked Incentive and the Make in India campaign. The forthcoming stainless steel policy is also expected to drive increased usage of the metal domestically. Additionally, the government is now actively promoting the use of stainless steel in infrastructure projects. Recently, the road transport and highways ministry recommended using stainless steel within 30km of the coastline for construction purposes. JSL is the first private entity in steel sector to spearhead government of India's Brand India initiative. What are JSL's initiatives and strategies for achieving net zero emissions and by which year? Jindal set the target of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, adopting energy efficient technologies, scaling up renewable energy and integrating circular economy principles in our operations. We have reduced over 300,000t of carbon dioxide in the last three fiscal years and are investing Rs7bn in sustainability projects to reduce 1.5mn t of carbon emissions per year. We are the first stainless steel manufacturing company in India to have installed a green hydrogen plant to produce stainless steel. We have also partnered with India's largest renewable energy company to develop a utility-scale captive renewable project for the supply of power to our Jajpur plant, Odisha. We have also invested in rooftop and floating solar plants to mitigate carbon emissions. We were also one of the only stainless steel companies to have participated at the prestigious Cop-28 held in Dubai last year. Any capacity expansion plans and investments? We have recently announced a three-pronged investment cum expansion strategic plan, which includes setting up a steel melt shop in Indonesia by investing Rs7bn for setting up a 1.2mn t/yr steel melting shop. It is a plug-and-play model and expected to be operational in 24 months. With the new melt shop in Indonesia, our total capacity will soon reach 4.2mn t/yr, positioning us among the top three global stainless steel manufacturers. Infra upgradation of our Jajpur plant we are investing Rs19bn to improve and upgrade the infrastructure in our plant in Odisha, India. JSL acquired Chromeni Steels Private Limited in Gujarat at an investment of Rs158.9mn to increase the capacity of our cold-rolling facility in line with our long-term vision of increasing the proportion of cold rolled products in our entire product mix. By Deepika Singh Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Hydro opens new Al recycling plant in Hungary
Hydro opens new Al recycling plant in Hungary
London, 11 September (Argus) — Norwegian firm Hydro has opened a new aluminium recycling plant in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, that will eventually process 90,000 t/yr of post-consumer scrap, the company said today. The new facility sits alongside Hydro's extrusion plant in Szekesfehervar, one of the largest of its kind in Europe. The company invested 360mn kroner (€33.2mn) in a new high-strength extrusion press at the plant last year, which is scheduled to deliver its first product in 2025. The production scrap from the extrusion and fabrication processes will now be fed into the melting furnace at the new recycling plant. The facility will have an initial processing capacity of 15,000 t/yr before rising to full capacity over the coming years. "Our customers are not only asking for recycled and low-carbon aluminium. They also need us to recycle their process scrap, so we can create closed loops. With our new and modern recycling facility in Hungary, we are now able to offer that," executive vice-president of Hydro Extrusions, Paul Warton, said. The Szekesfehervar facility mainly provides advanced aluminium components to the automotive market in Europe. By Jethro Wookey Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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Quarterly rare earths update - April 2024
Understand the drivers of rare earths with our April quarterly update video covering neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium, lutetium, yttrium and more.
WhitePaper - 04/02/24Diversifying rare earths: Building a market, not just a supply chain
The race is on to develop new rare earth supply chains outside China. Read the latest white paper from the Argus team to understand the impact of rising geopolitical tensions and demand from the energy transition.
