REEx Price Watch: China's Rare Earth Prices Diverge Sharply From Ex-China Markets

Highlights

• Dysprosium oxide trades near $200/kg inside China but commands up to $5,500/kg in ex-China markets, exposing a massive supply-chain premium for verified, legally sourced material.
• REEx sources estimate up to 80% of international trading in certain Chinese export-controlled rare earths may involve unauthorized exports, with purity certified but origin unverified.
• Government price floors—MP Materials' $110/kg NdPr DoD contract and USA Rare Earth's Serra Verde offtake—are reshaping Western rare earth economics but do not guarantee profitable processing.
• Germanium and gallium show ex-China premiums of 4–8× or more, while cobalt bucks the trend with global benchmark prices below China domestic references.
• The critical distinction for investors is between chemically certified material and legally traceable, customer-qualified supply available at commercial scale.