Rare earths: Characteristics
The strongest magnets and the elements that keep them hot
What this tab covers The supply and physical characteristics of the commodity. Supply: current production, inventories and stocks, capacity utilisation, geographic and producer concentration, how fast supply responds to price, the project pipeline and capital spending, and logistics and export flows. Material: the physical and chemical properties that set its grade, price and end uses (for example purity and conductivity for metals, API gravity, sulfur and energy content for fuels, moisture, protein and fibre quality for crops).Supply volume characteristics
| Characteristic | Figure | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current production volume | about 390 kt REO mine output (2025e); 380 kt in 2024 | China mined 270 kt (69%), the US 51 kt, Australia 29 kt and Myanmar about 22 kt. India mined 2,900 t. | USGS MCS 2026, Rare Earths |
| Inventory and stock levels | not published; US FY2025 plan to acquire 300 t NdPr oxide and 450 t NdFeB magnet block | China holds state reserves that are not disclosed. Western buyers built stocks after China's 2025 export controls on samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Capacity utilisation | Lynas NdPr about 62% (6,558 t made against 10.5 ktpa capacity, FY2025); China not published | China sets mining and separation quotas, so its utilisation is a policy choice. MP Materials made 2,599 t of NdPr oxide in 2025 as it ramped separation. | Lynas FY2025 annual report (ratio calculated); MP Materials FY2025 |
| Geographic and producer concentration | China 67.8%; top-3 (China, US, Myanmar) 89.2%; HHI 4,862 (mine); China 85% of light and 100% of heavy rare-earth processing | China Northern Rare Earth and China Rare Earth Group hold most Chinese quota. Outside China, Lynas and MP Materials dominate. | World Mining Data 2024; EU CRM 2023 |
| Supply elasticity | low outside China: a decade or more from discovery to separation; China can change quotas within a year | Supply is also joint: mining for NdPr brings surplus cerium and lanthanum, so output of one element barely responds to its own price. | USGS MCS 2026; EU CRM 2023 |
| Project pipeline and CapEx | Western build-out backed by governments: Lynas Mt Weld expansion (12 ktpa NdPr design); India's 6,000 tpa magnet scheme (Rs 7,200 crore) | The US guarantees MP Materials $110/kg for NdPr from October 2025. At least five companies are developing heavy rare-earth separation in the US. India's scheme pays Rs 6,450 crore in sales incentives plus Rs 750 crore capital subsidy across five magnet makers. | Lynas FY2025; MP Materials; Union Cabinet release (Nov 2025); USGS MCS 2026 |
| Logistics and export flows | rare-earth compounds (HS 2846) exports $1.53 billion in 2024: China 25.7%, Malaysia 24.0%; China 60.5% of imports | Myanmar clay concentrate crosses by road into Yunnan; Mountain Pass concentrate long went to China for separation; Mt Weld concentrate ships to Lynas in Malaysia. Chinese export licensing is the main chokepoint. | UN Comtrade 2024 (HS 2846); USGS MCS 2026 |
Material characteristics Industrial mineral
Rare earths are 17 chemically similar elements. Their value lies in magnetic, optical and catalytic properties: neodymium-praseodymium makes the strongest permanent magnets, and dysprosium and terbium keep them working when hot. Commercially, what matters is ore grade, the mix of elements in the ore (the basket), purity of separated oxides and, for monazite, thorium content, which raises handling costs.
| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ore grade (TREO) | Mt Weld reserves average 6.4% TREO; Mountain Pass about 8-10%; ion clays about 0.05-0.2% (indicative) | Sets mining cost per tonne of oxide | Lynas FY2025; Scheyder 2024; literature (indicative) |
| Basket composition | NdPr typically about 20% of light REO in bastnaesite and monazite (indicative) | NdPr and Dy/Tb earn most of the revenue | Industry data (indicative) |
| Oxide purity | NdPr oxide at least 99% total REO, Nd:Pr about 75:25; single oxides 99.9-99.999% | Benchmark price specifications and magnet-maker acceptance | Argus NdPr oxide 99% min specification |
| Magnet performance | sintered NdFeB up to about 52 MGOe (N52); Dy or Tb raise coercivity for 150-200 C service (indicative) | EV motors and wind turbines need high-temperature grades | Magnet grade standards (indicative) |
| Radioactivity | monazite carries thorium, often several per cent ThO2 (indicative) | Raises licensing and waste costs, as at Lynas Malaysia | Literature (indicative) |