Chinese rare earth red phosphors price keeps sliding
2015-06-11 09:11:11 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 11 Jun 15 - Market for rare earth red phosphors (“red phosphors” for short) remains in low performance now. The current prices decline to RMB165-170/kg (USD26.8-27.6/kg), with a decrease of around RMB10/kg (USD1.6/kg) from those of early this month. Attacked by LED industry, rare earth fluorescent market keeps dim, which results in reduced demand and dropping price in phosphor powder industry. Taking the softening demand into consideration, it is predicted that red phosphors price will be still on the decline in the coming week.
“Current red phosphors price slides to around RMB170/kg (USD27.6/kg), down by RMB10/kg (USD1.6/kg) from that of early this month. As rare earth raw material price keeps declining, we have to lower red phosphors price, though we are in deficit owing to higher stock values. ”said a producer in South China.
“YEu oxide (TREO≥99%, Eu2O3/TREO≥6.6%) price has kept going down since April, and we will lose money once we make purchases, so we prefer to consume stocks for a while,” said the producer, who also mentioned that current YEu oxide (TREO≥99%, Eu2O3/TREO≥6.6%) price drops by around 10% from RMB145/kg (USD23.6/kg) of early April to RMB132/kg (USD21.5/kg). With an annual production capacity of around 1,000 tons of phosphor powders, the plant’s operating rate has decreased to 25% since April and produced 20 tons of phosphor powders per month, around 10 tons of which are red phosphors. The plant holds an inventory of around 25 tons of red phosphors at present.
Another producer in South China also reported that red phosphors market remains inactive. Following with declining rare earth raw material value, the current price goes down by RMB10/kg (USD1.6/kg) to around RMB165/kg (USD26.8/kg) now. As it is hard for downstream demand to pick up, the produce is pessimistic about red phosphors future market. He also disclosed that some phosphor powder plants have turned to produce LED powder.
With an annual production capacity of around 2,000 tons of phosphor powders, the plant ran at around 20% of production capacity in this Q1. Their operating rate decreased to around 10% in Q2 and the monthly output is 20 tons of phosphor powder, including 10 tons of red phosphors. The plant holds about 100 tons of phosphor powders, 50 tons of which is red phosphors.
“Current red phosphors price slides to around RMB170/kg (USD27.6/kg), down by RMB10/kg (USD1.6/kg) from that of early this month. As rare earth raw material price keeps declining, we have to lower red phosphors price, though we are in deficit owing to higher stock values. ”said a producer in South China.
“YEu oxide (TREO≥99%, Eu2O3/TREO≥6.6%) price has kept going down since April, and we will lose money once we make purchases, so we prefer to consume stocks for a while,” said the producer, who also mentioned that current YEu oxide (TREO≥99%, Eu2O3/TREO≥6.6%) price drops by around 10% from RMB145/kg (USD23.6/kg) of early April to RMB132/kg (USD21.5/kg). With an annual production capacity of around 1,000 tons of phosphor powders, the plant’s operating rate has decreased to 25% since April and produced 20 tons of phosphor powders per month, around 10 tons of which are red phosphors. The plant holds an inventory of around 25 tons of red phosphors at present.
Another producer in South China also reported that red phosphors market remains inactive. Following with declining rare earth raw material value, the current price goes down by RMB10/kg (USD1.6/kg) to around RMB165/kg (USD26.8/kg) now. As it is hard for downstream demand to pick up, the produce is pessimistic about red phosphors future market. He also disclosed that some phosphor powder plants have turned to produce LED powder.
With an annual production capacity of around 2,000 tons of phosphor powders, the plant ran at around 20% of production capacity in this Q1. Their operating rate decreased to around 10% in Q2 and the monthly output is 20 tons of phosphor powder, including 10 tons of red phosphors. The plant holds about 100 tons of phosphor powders, 50 tons of which is red phosphors.
