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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[518,519,520,522,524,526,528,530,532,534,536,538],{"date":213,"value":512},{"date":216,"value":513},{"date":219,"value":521},99.19,{"date":222,"value":523},96.02,{"date":225,"value":525},98.23,{"date":467,"value":527},99.24,{"date":329,"value":529},101.29,{"date":339,"value":531},87.61,{"date":341,"value":533},92.44,{"date":344,"value":535},90.96,{"date":347,"value":537},92.24,{"date":350,"value":539},95.09,{"id":541,"uuid":542,"name":543,"slug":544,"full_slug":545,"content":546,"relatedArticles":746,"relatedVideos":747},112469974640202,"e170cf98-633d-4474-bd8d-aabe123f1bd1","Western rare earth majors under pressure as low prices hit profits","western-rare-earth-majors-under-pressure-as-low-prices-hit-profits","article/western-rare-earth-majors-under-pressure-as-low-prices-hit-profits",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":562,"content":572,"excerpt":722,"featured":51,"reporter":723,"_editable":727,"component":728,"seo_title":543,"categories":729,"visibility":738,"author_company":49,"featured_image":739,"seo_description":722,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":744,"formattedArticleDate":745},"ea1286c1-1871-4f9c-b6f7-2a67ab103b5e","2024-03-05 00:00",[550,553,556,559],{"slug":551,"name":552},"australia","Australia",{"slug":554,"name":555},"lynas","Lynas",{"slug":557,"name":558},"mp-materials","MP Materials",{"slug":560,"name":561},"usa","USA",[563],{"slug":564,"name":565,"content":566},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":567,"image":568,"bio":570,"linkedin":571},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":569},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":573,"content":574},"doc",[575,582,587,602,605,610,615,626,631,636,641,665,670,677,682,687,692,697,702,707,712,717],{"type":576,"attrs":577,"content":578},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[579],{"text":580,"type":581},"Major rare earth producers Lynas and MP Materials have reported significant losses due to declining prices and increased expenditure, reflecting the growing pressures on Western players in an oversupplied market.","text",{"type":576,"attrs":583,"content":584},{"textAlign":49},[585],{"text":586,"type":581},"“We are definitely at a market killing price at the moment, so it is not unreasonable to expect some price uplift in the second half of this year,” said Benchmark project director Daan de Jonge. ",{"type":576,"attrs":588,"content":589},{"textAlign":49},[590,592,600],{"text":591,"type":581},"US miner MP and Australian miner and processor Lynas are expected to produce 17 % of global praseodymium-neodymium (PrNd) supply in 2024, according to ",{"text":593,"type":581,"marks":594},"Benchmark’s Rare Earths Forecast",[595],{"type":596,"attrs":597},"link",{"href":598,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":599},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/forecasts/rare-earths/reports/","url",{"text":601,"type":581},". ",{"type":576,"attrs":603,"content":604},{"textAlign":49},[],{"type":576,"attrs":606,"content":607},{"textAlign":49},[608],{"text":609,"type":581},"As two of just three major operating Western rare earths producers, Lynas and MP are critical to EU and US efforts to develop ex-China rare earths supply. However, below-incentive prices resulting from Chinese oversupply could threaten the pace of Western supply chain buildout. ",{"type":576,"attrs":611,"content":612},{"textAlign":49},[613],{"text":614,"type":581},"China has been raising its rare earth production quotas for the past two years despite slowed demand for rare earth permanent magnets (REPMs) from the wind and EV sectors. ",{"type":576,"attrs":616,"content":617},{"textAlign":49},[618,620,624],{"text":619,"type":581},"The country has enormous influence over prices, forecast to produce 70% of mined PrNd and 82% of processed PrNd oxides in 2024 according to ",{"text":593,"type":581,"marks":621},[622],{"type":596,"attrs":623},{"href":598,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":599},{"text":625,"type":581},", ",{"type":576,"attrs":627,"content":628},{"textAlign":49},[629],{"text":630,"type":581},"The geopolitical risks of Chinese rare earths dependence will heighten over this decade, with Benchmark expecting global PrNd oxides to enter a growing deficit from 2028 onwards. ",{"type":576,"attrs":632,"content":633},{"textAlign":49},[634],{"text":635,"type":581},"According to de Jonge, the short-term outlook for Western producers is pessimistic. However, shutdowns are not an immediate risk for MP and Lynas.",{"type":576,"attrs":637,"content":638},{"textAlign":49},[639],{"text":640,"type":581},"“These producers accrued lots of cash while prices were so high which allows them to survive current prices,” said de Jonge. ",{"type":576,"attrs":642,"content":643},{"textAlign":49},[644,649,650,654,661],{"text":645,"type":581,"marks":646},"Watch Benchmark project director Daan de Jonge discuss the main trends in the REE market in 2023",[647],{"type":648},"italic",{"text":601,"type":581},{"text":651,"type":581,"marks":652},"View more analyst insight videos ",[653],{"type":648},{"text":655,"type":581,"marks":656},"here",[657,660],{"type":596,"attrs":658},{"href":659,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":599},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/search/tag/analyst-insights?items_per_page=12&page_offset=0&tags[]=analyst-insights",{"type":648},{"text":662,"type":581,"marks":663},".",[664],{"type":648},{"type":576,"attrs":666,"content":667},{"textAlign":49},[668],{"text":669,"type":581},"Low prices drove Lynas and MP to discuss a possible merger between the companies earlier this year in order to better compete with Chinese producers but the talks ended without a deal last month.",{"type":671,"attrs":672,"content":674},"heading",{"level":673,"textAlign":49},4,[675],{"text":676,"type":581},"MP profits squeezed by low prices and higher costs",{"type":576,"attrs":678,"content":679},{"textAlign":49},[680],{"text":681,"type":581},"MP Materials, the owner of Mountain Pass mine in California, reported a 98% EBITDA drop in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. It marks MP’s fifth consecutive decline in its quarterly EBITDA. ",{"type":576,"attrs":683,"content":684},{"textAlign":49},[685],{"text":686,"type":581},"MP attributed this to a 13% fall in realised prices resulting from lower demand growth for rare earth permanent magnets (REPMs).",{"type":576,"attrs":688,"content":689},{"textAlign":49},[690],{"text":691,"type":581},"Rising production costs were an additional pressure point. The bulk of this came from payroll costs as MP continues to implement its Stage II project to build its first rare earths oxide processing capacity.  ",{"type":576,"attrs":693,"content":694},{"textAlign":49},[695],{"text":696,"type":581},"Lower sales volumes over the quarter also meant the company suffered reduced economies of scale, further pushing up production costs per unit.",{"type":576,"attrs":698,"content":699},{"textAlign":49},[700],{"text":701,"type":581},"Still, MP may be able to recuperate these losses once their new separation capacity is fully online. ",{"type":671,"attrs":703,"content":704},{"level":673,"textAlign":49},[705],{"text":706,"type":581},"Ballooning cash outflows at Lynas ",{"type":576,"attrs":708,"content":709},{"textAlign":49},[710],{"text":711,"type":581},"Meanwhile, Australian miner and processor Lynas reported a 67% fall in EBITDA for its first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Losses were softened by the company’s half-year reporting period, which covers a stretch of relatively higher prices last year. ",{"type":576,"attrs":713,"content":714},{"textAlign":49},[715],{"text":716,"type":581},"Lower selling prices over the first half of 2024 was the major contributor to its EBITDA drop. However, Lynas’ losses were softened somewhat by the company’s half-year reporting period, which covers a stretch of somewhat higher prices last year. ",{"type":576,"attrs":718,"content":719},{"textAlign":49},[720],{"text":721,"type":581},"In addition, Lynas’ net cash outflows rose 820% in the period compared to the first half of 2023. This came from payments of rehabilitation liabilities associated with its Malaysian processing site, Kalgoorlie as well as investment into the expansions of its Mount Weld mine.","Major rare earth producers Lynas and MP Materials have reported significant losses due to declining prices and increased expenditure, reflecting the growing pressures on Western players in an oversupplied market. “We are definitely at a market killing price at the moment, so it is not unreasonable to expect some price uplift in the second half […]",[724],{"slug":564,"name":565,"content":725},{"job_title":567,"image":726,"bio":570,"linkedin":571},{"filename":569},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"ea1286c1-1871-4f9c-b6f7-2a67ab103b5e\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[730,733,736],{"slug":731,"name":732},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":734,"name":735},"new-energy","New Energy",{"slug":737,"name":414},"rare-earths","private",{"id":49,"alt":740,"name":740,"focus":740,"title":740,"source":740,"filename":741,"copyright":740,"fieldtype":742,"meta_data":743,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/05a2a6a959/bm-ree.jpg","asset",{"alt":740,"title":740,"source":740,"copyright":740},"Mar 05, 2024","5th March 2024",[],[],1784633810209]