Monthly Rare Earths MMI® Falls 3.1% To 62

The monthly Rare Earths MMI® registered a value of 62 in June, a decrease of 3.1 percent from 64 in May.

The big price drop on the index came in March, when prices fell by nearly 30 points. The Rare Earths MMI® baseline began on January 1, 2012 with a reading of 100. This report serves as the first public release of this data.

Source: MetalMiner IndX℠

(Editor’s Note: Data will be presented in graph format, but we caution readers to note the range on the Y-axis.)

“Since the start of the year, the Rare Earths MMI® has taken the biggest hit in terms of downward price pressure,” said Lisa Reisman, managing editor of MetalMiner. “Last summer, prices peaked when China announced a rare earth export ban, but since then, demand has fallen somewhat and industry players have identified, in some cases, alternative sources of supply or substitutes.”

Drivers of the Downward Trend

A 10.4 percent drop over the past month affected neodymium oxide prices. Dysprosium oxide prices dropped by nine percent this month as well. Praseodymium oxide finished the month following a 6.4 percent decline in price. The price of cerium oxide closed the month after dropping 5.7 percent. And europium oxide was down 4.1 percent for the month.

Yttria prices decreased by 2.8 percent this month, praseodymium neodymium oxide drifted 2.3 percent lower, and the value of terbium oxide weakened by 1.5 percent over the month as well.

Only Lanthanum and Neodymium Support the Rare Earths Complex

Prices for lanthanum oxide remained constant this past month, and neodymium’s price held pat as well.

Rare earth carbonate and several other price points in the IndX℠ experienced a flat month.

The Rare Earths MMI® collects and weights 14 global rare earth metal price points to provide a unique view into rare earth metal price trends over a 30-day period. MetalMiner will publish the monthly MMI® reports during the first week of the month, every month. Paid subscribers have access to all the data on the first of the month and can also obtain the actual price points for constituent elements that comprise the Rare Earths MMI®.

Get Started – Subscribe Today

For more information on the Rare Earths MMI®, how it’s calculated or how your company can use the index, please drop us a note at: info (at) agmetalminer (dot) com.