Rare earth market update on March 31, 2026
Rare earth prices in China are generally on a downward trend, with the prices of praseodymium oxide, praseodymium-neodymium oxide, and dysprosium alloy decreasing by approximately RMB 5,000/ton, RMB 2,000/ton, and RMB 10,000/ton, respectively. On the supply side, due to the continued weak demand from downstream industries, and most rare earth separation and smelting enterprises maintaining a regular production schedule, the market's spot circulation is relatively abundant. In addition, the import volume of overseas rare earth products has also increased, further boosting the overall supply level of the market. In the first two months of 2026, the cumulative import volume of Chinese rare earth products was 18,906.2 tons, a year-on-year increase of 11.7%. However, from a medium to long-term perspective, with the rapid development of industries such as new energy vehicles, wind power, and humanoid robots, combined with the gradual decline in the ore grade of certain domestic mines, the supply of major rare earth raw materials, such as praseodymium-neodymium, may become tighter in the future.
On the demand side, in the short term, downstream magnetic material enterprises are primarily consuming existing inventories, with weak intentions for new purchases. Coupled with limited working capital for downstream enterprises and the apparent "buy on the rise, not buy on the fall" mentality in the market, transaction volumes remain low. However, in the medium to long term, the development of emerging industries is promising, and the demand for rare earth functional materials is expected to gradually increase.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in March 2026, the manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was 50.4%, an increase of 1.4 percentage points from the previous month, which is above the critical point, indicating a recovery in the manufacturing sector's prosperity level. By enterprise size, the PMI for large enterprises was 51.6%, up by 0.1 percentage points from the previous month; the PMI for medium and small enterprises was 49.0% and 49.3%, respectively, up by 1.5 percentage points and 4.5 percentage points from the previous month. By classification index, the production index was 51.4%, up by 1.8 percentage points from the previous month; the new orders index was 51.6%, up by 3.0 percentage points from the previous month; and the raw materials inventory index was 47.7%, up by 0.2 percentage points from the previous month.
Price of rare earth products on March 31, 2026
Images of neodymium oxide
