The fallacy of European rare earth prices
Over the past 12 months, price bifurcation in China combined with the emergence of price floors outside China combined with astronomically high prices quoted by intermediates in Europe have amplified confusion about actual prevailing price levels for several critical rare earth elements.
This confusion is compounded by Price Reporting Agencies that misrepresent outlier price levels from intermediates as mainstream despite underlying trade volumes being negligible.
In at least one case, these outlier price levels – which are several multiples higher than actual volume-backed market prices – were provided by an IOSCO-assured consultancy for use in a Definitive Feasibility Study calling into question both the expertise of the firm in question and the merits of the IOSCO certification itself.
