From Ore to Magnets: What the Rare Earth Market Can Learn From Lynas
ANDRIEVSKII.CH | October 29, 2026
For the quarter ended 30 September 2026, Australia’s Lynas reported sales revenue of A$310.1 million, up 55% year on year. It was the company’s strongest quarterly revenue since the fourth quarter of FY2022. The result reflects a combination of stronger market prices, bundled supplies of light and heavy rare earths, and contracts that support premiums above market indices.
The company produced 4,254 tonnes of rare earth oxides, an increase of 6.5% year on year. Neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) output rose 3.9% to 2,082 tonnes, while combined dysprosium and terbium production reached 23 tonnes.
Sales volume, however, fell from 3,691 tonnes to 3,039 tonnes, a decline of 17.7%. The average selling price across all rare earth products increased 88% to a record A$102.1 per kilogram. Revenue therefore rose despite a reduction in tonnage sold—an important distinction when assessing the business.
A Premium for Predictability
Lynas attributes the higher average selling price to improving market conditions, increased bundling of light and heavy rare earths for magnet customers, and a larger premium above market indices. Agreements with price floors now cover more than half of the company’s production.
For an industry in which new capacity requires substantial investment and long development periods, these arrangements matter. They improve revenue visibility for producers while helping customers secure essential materials. Price, quality and supply reliability become interconnected parts of the commercial proposition.
Moving Closer to Industrial Customers
Lynas is supporting that contract strategy with investment. The company invested approximately A$50 million in JS Link equity to help finance a sintered NdFeB permanent magnet factory in Kuantan, Malaysia, with planned capacity of 3,000 tonnes a year. The agreement provides for exclusive supplies of Lynas rare earth materials to its partner’s factories in South Korea and Malaysia until January 2038.
Separately, Lynas and LS Eco Energy are negotiating definitive terms for a long-term arrangement to process Lynas products into metals, including heavy rare earth metals. The proposed facility would be built in Vietnam.
These projects address a central obstacle to supply diversification. According to the International Energy Agency, China accounted for 60% of global mining output of magnet rare earths, 91% of refining and 94% of sintered permanent magnet production in 2024. New mines need access to the facilities that turn their output into industrial products.
Feedstock for the Next Stage
Lynas also intends to expand its resource base through the proposed acquisition of Meteoric Resources, owner of the Caldeira project in Brazil. The agreement was announced on 1 October 2026, after the reporting quarter ended.
Based on Meteoric’s definitive feasibility study, Caldeira’s potential average annual feedstock production over its mine life corresponds to approximately 3,862 tonnes of NdPr and 127 tonnes of DyTb. These are project targets, not current production of separated oxides. The acquisition remains subject to Meteoric shareholder, court and regulatory approvals.
The strategic rationale is to connect an additional source of light and heavy rare earths with Lynas’s processing infrastructure. An engineering scoping study has begun into possible changes to the Caldeira design and the company’s Malaysian plant.
Andrievskii Verdict
Lynas offers a useful example for the wider rare earth market. Its approach connects resources, processing capabilities and long-term industrial demand. The size of a deposit matters, but commercial performance also depends on delivering the right combination of materials and securing supply relationships that extend years into the future.
However, Lynas’s 88% increase in average selling price cannot be extrapolated to the entire market: it reflects market conditions, contract terms and changes in the company’s product mix.
The broader lesson is the opportunity to capture additional value by building closer links with metal and magnet manufacturing. For the rare earth industry, the ability to establish that chain may prove as important as access to the raw materials themselves.
Disclaimer: This publication is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute personalised investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell securities. Investments in financial instruments involve risks, including the potential loss of capital.
Aleksei Andrievskii | Advisory Board Member, Bendura Bank AG | Liechtenstein