Nth RE, by far the largest LRE producer, circa 60% of total, raised La & Ce prices in Oct, they stuck, so the raised them again in Nov, which also appear to be holding.
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Lanthanum prices keep firming
2016-11-09 16:18:08
BEIJING (Info-RE) 09-Nov-16 Lanthanum oxide prices have been firming up in China over the past few days as suppliers have raised their offer prices following the increase in listed prices at Northern Rare Earth as well as relatively active demand from downstream buyers.
Market sources said that 99.9% lanthanum oxide is currently available about RMB12,500-13,000/tonne($1,849-1,923/tonne), and both prices above RMB13,000/tonne($1,923/tonne) and lower prices of about RMB12,000/tonne($1,775/tonne) are being reported in the market.
The increase in listed price at Northern Rare Earth in late October is cited as the reason for the rise in lanthanum oxide prices in China’s domestic market. As Info-RE reported, Northern Rare Earth raised its listed prices for oxides of lanthanum and cerium for late October. The company is currently offering RMB13,900/tonne($2,055/tonne) for 4N lanthanum oxide and RMB10,600/tonne($1,567/tonne) for 3N5 cerium oxide, up from RMB12,800/tonne($1,892/tonne) and RMB9,600/tonne($1,419/tonne) respectively for the company’s listed prices for October.
Meanwhile, the reduction in outputs for the oxide in North China caused by the government environmental supervision has also contributed to the rise in prices for light rare earths, such as lanthanum and cerium.
Nonetheless, prices for lanthanum metal, which uses lanthanum oxide as the raw material, have not seen marked rises recently despite of the increase in lanthanum oxide prices.
99% lanthanum metal prices are still holding about RMB28,000-30,000/tonne($4,142-4,437/tonne) for the moment, similar to prices seen in the past few weeks."
Trying to track prices on myriad sites, particularly "opinions" such as MP is a waste of time IMO, to the point of misleading. Baotou Exchange is the only one worth following as indicative to Lynas, and even then only for month to month trend.
(20min delay)