Prices of certain key rare earth minerals from China – the source of over 95% of world supply – have risen sharply since the start of the year due to a shortage of material.
Industry sources reported a surge in prices, especially for the magnetic rare earth materials neodymium and praseodymium, despite a year-on-year increase in the first round of Chinese export quotas for 2010.
Latest prices have been quoted as follows:
Cerium oxide (99%, bulk purchases, FOB China), used for flat panel polish: $4.40/kg, up from $3.20-4.20/kg
Lanthanum oxide (99%, bulk,...