Lynas is our preferred rare earth name, despite MP getting most of the attention (and U.S. government money).
From Nikkei Asia, March 27:
Market cap triples in year for Lynas, largest rare-earth separator outside China, on Japan, US deals
Rare-earth stocks in Australia have risen sharply over the past year
amid growing demand from sources other than China for the metals, found
in everything from mobile phones and cars to modern weapons.
Lynas Rare Earths, the world's largest commercial rare-earth separator outside China, announced this month it had locked in purchase price guarantees
with a joint venture co-owned by Japanese trading house Sojitz. It
marks the first time a Japanese client has committed to a price floor
for a rare-earth deal.
"The implementation of fair market pricing
will reduce price volatility for Lynas and enable continued growth and
investment in our operations," Lynas CEO Amanda Lacaze said in a press
release.
The sides have agreed to a minimum price of $110 per
kilogram for neodymium-praseodymium, which is used to make magnets for
vehicles, among other applications. Lynas is entering into a similar deal with the U.S. Defense Department.
Lynas'
market capitalization reached 20 billion Australian dollars ($14
billion) as of Friday, roughly tripling in value over 12 months. The
company has surpassed the $9.4 billion market cap of its largest U.S.
rival, MP Materials, and is gaining ground on China Northern Rare Earth
Group High-Tech, the biggest Chinese player with a market cap of $24
billion....
....MUCH MORE, an excellent overview.
China Northern is an old friend formerly known as "Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Co., Ltd." As noted in a 2024 post on Baidu:
....China has a communist government, they pick winners and losers in business, that's what communists do.
We
first became aware of how important this understanding is in the case
of the Chinese rare earth companies. Here's a snip from a 2009 post, "Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Co., Ltd. UP 10% Wednesday (600111: Shanghai)", this is a couple years before the twenty-tweens rare earth mania:
....China's moves to tighten control on the mining and export of a class of
metal ores called rare earth are aimed at attracting high-tech
manufacturing to Inner Mongolia, and not at dominating the market, a
senior Chinese official said.
Wednesday's comments by Zhao Shuanglin,
vice chairman of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, appear aimed at
quelling concerns that China is trying to dominate the global market for
rare-earth resources, used in some environmentally friendly
technologies. Rare-earth metals greatly improve batteries made for
hybrid cars....
...China also is taking steps to consolidate its
rare-earth industry. Mr. Zhao, who said he runs the region's industrial
policy, said Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare Earth Hi-Tech Co. would
lead that consolidation. The move is aimed at creating a group of
rare-earth miners and processors in the region's western parts. Inner
Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare Earth's stock rose 7.6% in Shanghai trading
Wednesday. "Most of the consolidation is complete," Mr. Zhao said.
"We want to build Baotou into an international rare earth production
base."....
By November 2010 the story was:
"
Rare Earth: Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare Earth Hi Tech Co. Ltd. Reports 369% Increase in Q3 Net":
This is the big dog.
And one that the Chinese government says will be on top of the mandated industry consolidation.
IMBSREHTCL was chosen to succeed.
In
the case of artificial intelligence it was apparent by 2017 that Baidu,
known in the West as a search engine, was the anointed one for machine
learning and such.
Some more 2009 posts on "IMBSREHTCL":
Again, years before the mania and "Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Co., Ltd." being on everyone's lips and our chosen tagline coming from one of the best books on investing ever written:
"...Words like 'uranium', 'rare earths', etc. seem to be magic to
those unsuspecting who are often fleeced..."
Gerald M. Loeb
The Battle for Investment Survival
Simon & Schuster, 1935
