Rare earth market update on April 17, 2026
This week, the domestic light and heavy rare earth markets showed mixed performance: the light rare earth market showed a relatively strong performance, driven by the increased initiative of downstream restocking, tightening supply of low-priced resources, and a significant rise in the second-quarter rare earth concentrate transaction prices in Northern Rare Earth. As a result, the prices of praseodymium and neodymium fluctuated upwards. The heavy rare earth market remained weak and stable, mainly due to the strong wait-and-see sentiment from downstream buyers and the firm quotes from suppliers.
According to statistics from CTIA GROUP, this week the price of praseodymium neodymium oxide increased by RMB 18,000/ton, up by 2.37%; the price of praseodymium neodymium metal increased by RMB 20,000/ton, up by 2.16%; the prices of terbium oxide and dysprosium oxide showed no significant change; the price of 55N neodymium-iron-boron raw material increased by RMB 3/kg, up by 0.98%; the price of neodymium-iron-boron scrap (praseodymium and neodymium) increased by RMB 20/kg, up by 2.67%.
In terms of news, data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that in the first quarter of 2026, the national industrial capacity utilization rate of enterprises above designated size was 73.6%, decreasing by 1.3 percentage points compared to the previous quarter and decreasing by 0.5 percentage points compared to the same period last year. In terms of the three major sectors, the mining industry capacity utilization rate was 72.1%, the manufacturing industry capacity utilization rate was 73.9%, and the capacity utilization rate of the power, heat, gas, and water production and supply industry was 71.9%. Among the major industries, the chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing industry had a capacity utilization rate of 73.8%, the non-metallic mineral products industry had 56.9%, the black metal smelting and rolling processing industry had 78.1%, the non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry had 77.2%, the general equipment manufacturing industry had 79.0%, the special equipment manufacturing industry had 76.6%, the automobile manufacturing industry had 70.3%, the electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing industry had 71.6%, and the manufacturing industry of computers, communication, and other electronic equipment had 75.4%.
Price of rare earth products on April 17, 2026
Images of erbium oxide
