Rare earth market update on May 18, 2026
On Monday, the domestic rare earth market continued to maintain a generally stable but slightly weak trend, with the price of praseodymium-neodymium oxide decreased by RMB 7,000/ton, praseodymium-neodymium metal decreased by RMB 5,000/ton, and dysprosium-iron alloy decreased by RMB 10,000/ton. Affected by the recent fluctuation and decline in rare earth raw material prices, the prices of rare earth permanent magnet materials and their scrap also declined, with 55N NdFeB blocks and NdFeB scrap (Pr-Nd) prices decreased by RMB 2/kg and RMB 10/kg, respectively. According to CTIA GROUP, downstream users showed low inquiry and purchasing enthusiasm, market spot supply was relatively ample, and market participants were cautious about the short-term market sentiment. These multiple factors jointly led to insufficient motivation for suppliers to raise their quotes. However, due to strong support from production costs and the favorable development of emerging industries, suppliers’ space for concession was limited.
The new energy vehicle sector is one of the main application areas for rare earth permanent magnet materials. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in April 2026, China produced and sold 1.32 million and 1.344 million new energy vehicles, respectively, increased by 5.5% and 9.7% year-on-year, and the sales of new energy vehicles accounted for 53.2% of total new vehicle sales. In the first four months of this year, automobile production and sales reached 9.614 million and 9.574 million units, respectively, of which new energy vehicle production and sales reached 4.285 million and 4.304 million units, respectively; automobile exports reached 3.127 million units, increased by 61.5% year-on-year, of which new energy vehicle exports reached 1.384 million units, increased by 1.2 times year-on-year.
Price of rare earth products on May 18, 2026
Images of neodymium oxide
