Rare earths
Overview
Rare earths or rare earth elements (REE) are crucial to modern society, driving innovation across automotives, electronics, renewable energy, healthcare, defence and aerospace, and as a catalyst in industrial and chemical processing.
As demand for highly engineered products continues to grow, manufacturers that rely on rare earths face a limited supply of marketable product outside a handful of Chinese producers.
Argus Rare Earths Analytics and Argus Non-Ferrous Markets address this unique challenge in the rare earths industry by delivering price data and forecasts through on-the-ground expertise and a proven methodology that supports long-term outlooks as well as supply and demand fundamentals.
Rare earths coverage
Argus produces more than 70 price assessments for the 17 rare earth elements, as well as delivering best-in-class data, news and analysis to support your decision making. In addition, the Argus Rare Earths Analytics service also provides market analysis and 10-year forecasts for supply, demand, prices and projects across key rare earths:
- Cerium prices
- Dysprosium prices
- Erbium prices
- Europium prices
- Gadolinium prices
- Lanthanum prices
- Mischmetal prices
- Neodymium prices
- Praseodymium prices
- Praseodymium-neodymium prices
- Samarium prices
- Terbium prices
- Yttrium prices
Latest rare earth news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global rare earth industry.
Korea's Samsung, Germany's Tesvolt sign battery deal
Korea's Samsung, Germany's Tesvolt sign battery deal
Singapore, 11 June (Argus) — South Korean battery producer Samsung SDI has agreed to supply its battery products to German battery energy storage systems (BESS) manufacturer Tesvolt, with the potential for further negotiations for possible additional supply. Samsung SDI will begin with supplying its battery box 1.0 to Tesvolt from this month onwards, before switching the model to its upgraded battery box 1.5 in April-June 2026, said Samsung SDI on 11 June. Details such as supply volumes were undisclosed. Tesvolt last year secured an order for its BESS products and services to be used in a 65MWh battery storage park in Germany's Worms city. The order — Tesvolt's largest order ever — will see it supporting the project's development, supplying and installing the large-scale storage system, as well as providing service and maintenance for the storage power plant. Tesvolt uses Samsung SDI's lithium nickel-cobalt-aluminum cells in its storage systems. The lithium nickel-cobalt-aluminum cells have a higher energy density and an above-average efficiency when compared to lithium-iron-phosphate cells, said Tesvolt. Tesvolt started building a 4 GWh/yr BESS gigafactory in Germany in April last year, and it expects the factory to be able to produce up to 80,000 units/yr of BESS. The €30mn ($34mn) plant is expected to begin its commissioning this year. Tesvolt has been tasked with commissioning storage power plants with more than 40MWh of capacity across Germany and Sweden, it said in July last year. Samsung SDI has been competing head-to-head with fellow battery producer LG Energy Solutions in the US ESS market . It has secured orders for 90pc of its planned ESS battery production capacity this year, according to the firm. By Joseph Ho Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US primary Al imports tumble 20pc in April
US primary Al imports tumble 20pc in April
Houston, 9 June (Argus) — US imports of primary aluminum in April dropped by 20pc from a year earlier, as buyers tempered their pace of purchases following the implementation of 25pc import tariffs in March. Imports in April totaled 281,485 metric tonnes (t), down from 352,538t a year earlier, according to US Commerce Department data released late last week. Shipments from top supplier Canada fell by 23pc to 185,674t, while volumes from the United Arab Emirates dropped by 19pc to 41,596t. South Africa supplied the third-most primary aluminum to the US, with imports more than doubling to 17,690t. Imports from Argentina plummeted by 96pc to 294t, while volumes from top-10 suppliers Bahrain, Australia and India fell on the year, as well. The White House on 12 March implemented the Section 232 tariffs on US aluminum imports. Domestic mills seeking to mitigate cost increases front-loaded purchases of primes before the higher protectionist duties took effect, with imports in March reaching 441,863t — the most since May 2023. Last week, US president Donald Trump doubled the tariff rate to 50pc for all countries except the UK, which has increased domestic aluminum prices to record highs. It remains to be seen how consumers will adjust their procurement strategies in the face of the most recent tariff increase, given the US' overwhelmingly reliance on imports of primary aluminum. By Alex Nicoll US primary aluminum imports metric tonne (t) Country April '25 April '24 ±% March '25 ±% Canada 185,674 243,798 -23.8% 251,473 -26.2% United Arab Emirates 41,596 51,445 -19.1% 94,148 -55.8% South Africa 17,690 5,894 200.1% 3,216 450.1% Bahrain 13,334 19,715 -32.4% 19,863 -32.9% Qatar 11,403 4,921 131.7% 10,141 12.4% Australia 5,567 8,726 -36.2% 5,370 3.7% India 4,352 5,335 -18.4% 30,223 -85.6% South Korea 522 794 -34.3% 3,053 -82.9% France 491 382 28.5% 449 9.4% Argentina 294 7,644 -96.2% 18,023 -98.4% Rest of the world 562 3,884 -85.5% 5,904 -90.5% source: US Commerce Department Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Indonesian nickel ore prices rise on tight supply
Indonesian nickel ore prices rise on tight supply
Beijing, 9 June (Argus) — Tighter supply of domestically mined nickel ore in Indonesia has lifted premiums for ore in the country, prompting a switch in mining firm's sales approach and forcing nickel products producers to seek more imported ore. Prices in Indonesia for nickel ore with 1.6pc nickel content and 35pc moisture rose to about $53/wet metric tonne (wmt) cif main production hub in May, rising further from the $44/wmt in January, mostly driven by a stronger premium. The Indonesian government sets the HMA , which is the official guide price and acts as a government-mandated price floor. A premium is then added to it, typically when supply is tight. Premiums for nickel ore in Indonesia rose to $25/wmt in May from $16/wmt in January in response to tighter availability caused by rainy weather on Sulawesi Island since November 2024. Sulawesi holds about 70pc of Indonesia's total nickel ore resources. The rainy season on the island typically spans November-March but it has been extended in 2025. The wet weather has caused disruptions to operations in Morowali Industrial Park on the island in March-April. Supply is set to become even tighter as the government ordered state-owned firm PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) to suspend operations at a nickel mine in the Raja Ampat archipelago in West Papua because the region is a marine protected area and internationally renowned among divers for its coral reefs and biodiversity. The site produces high-grade nickel and has a quota to mine up to 3mn wmt/yr. The increased tightness in nickel ore availability has prompted mining firms to sell ore through tenders instead of bilateral negotiations in the past few months. And ore buyers are now offering $1-2/wmt higher for purchases more than 100,000wmt in an attempt to stimulate sellers to accept larger orders so they can secure more ore for future needs, which is in contrary to common expectations, a trading house said. Downstream prices fall The rise in nickel ore prices comes despite a fall in downstream products' prices. Stainless steel 304 cold-rolled coils prices in China fell to 13,250 yuan/t ($1,844/t) in May from Yn13,650/t in March, while Indonesia's nickel pig iron (NPI) export prices dropped to $116/metric tonne unit (mtu) on 6 June from $124.50/mtu on 21 March. The fall in NPI and stainless steel prices were mostly driven by the ongoing US-China trade disputes. NPI is a major nickel feedstock for 304 stainless steel in China. The diverge in upstream and downstream nickel unit prices is because the Indonesian nickel ore market has been a seller's market since 2023, when the growth in nickel ore supply began to lag behind the increase in nickel products capacity on the back of delays in issuing mining quotas and heavy rains disrupting local mining operations. Indonesia's nickel products output in the form of NPI, ferronickel, mixed hydroxide precipitate and matte is expected to increase to 2.49mn t in nickel metal equivalent in 2025 from 1.83mn t in 2023, meaning that ore demand is expected to rise to 280mn wmt from 200mn wmt in the same period. A lack of domestically mined ore has driven Indonesian NPI and other nickel intermediates producers to seek seaborne ore. Indonesia has been buying nickel ore from the Philippines since mid-2023. Imported volumes have rapidly grown in subsequent months, rising to nearly 10mn t in 2024, which is about 130,000t in nickel metal equivalent and accounted for around 6pc of total demand. Imports are expected to rise further in 2025. Shipments in January-April totalled over 2.6mn t, already exceeding the 2.34mn t imported in January-June 2024. Indonesian nickel producers require ore from the Philippines to blend with local ore to form a suitable silicon and magnesium ratio, further supporting imports from the country. This is largely because the specification of Indonesian-origin nickel ore has changed after 15 years of rapid mining, and there are different requirements for ore types and specifications used in rotary kiln electric furnaces (RKEF) and high-pressure acid leaching (HPAL) processes. Prices of nickel ore, NPI, stainless steel Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
IperionX receives DOD contract to supply Ti
IperionX receives DOD contract to supply Ti
Houston, 5 June (Argus) — The US Department of Defense (DOD) awarded domestic titanium producer IperionX a five-year contract worth up to $99mn to supply titanium components for the US Army. The deal aims to streamline the DOD's procurement process by creating a funding mechanism that allows sub-agencies to submit orders for IperionX's products that the Pentagon already has validated, the North Carolina-based company said on Thursday. IperionX expects to begin initial production of titanium fasteners for defense projects "in the coming months" at its manufacturing campus in Virginia. Under terms of the contract, the company can also supply other products, which may include near-net-shape parts and semi-finished goods. The company received the phase III contract through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which is administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA). IperionX aims to be a fully integrated titanium producer, touting that its scrap-to-forging technology cuts costs and improves yields compared to traditional manufacturing practices for the lightweight metal. By Alex Nicoll Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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