Lynas Rare Earths Ltd. on Monday said its fourth-quarter rare earths output was weaker versus the previous quarter because of water outages at its Malaysia operations. Here are some remarks from its quarterly activities report.


On rare-earths prices:

"During the period, rare earth prices were sustained at recent high levels, especially the NdPr [neodymium-praseodymium] price which remained between 70% and 80% higher than at the same time last year. The average China Domestic Price for NdPr during the quarter was US$120/kilogram."


On rare-earths demand:

"In the quarter, demand for rare earths for NdFeB [neodymium] magnets inside China weakened impacted, in particular, by the Covid-19 related lockdowns in several industrial regions in China. In the longer term, global demand for NdFeB magnets is forecast to grow from 130,000 [metric] tons of NdFeB magnets consumed in 2020 to 265,000 tons in 2030. The demand for Lynas products, mostly sold in outside China markets, remained very strong during the period."


On its mining operations:

"Mt Weld continued Mining Campaign 4-1 during the quarter and transitioned from waste mining to waste-and-ore mining. Ore mined in this campaign is being transported to the run of mine stockpile for future blending. Campaign 3 ores were processed in the mill during the quarter."


On its processing operations:

"The Lynas Malaysia plant remains focused on delivering nameplate capacity production of NdPr. However, water shortages due to supplier issues limited production in this quarter. The Lynas team has implemented a number of mitigating strategies, but the ongoing water shortages from our commercial supplier resulted in several complete or partial temporary production halts during the quarter. NdPr production was prioritized as reflected in the total production volume."


On operating costs:

"As has been reported across industry, various cost categories have seen significant increases over the past 12 months. Royalty cost increases follow price increases in the market, freight costs were approximately double due to global shipping cost increases and the addition of charter ships to mitigate the impact of port and shipment delays. Chemical input costs have increased by approximately 20% with some specific chemicals seeing changes of up to 70%."


Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-17-22 1923ET