Rare Earths — A Complete Market Guide (2026)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 18:00:00 +0200

Data as of 9 August 2026. Prices are quoted as full-year averages of assessed benchmark prices, not a single day’s snapshot, so this report stays useful over time. Reserves, production splits and historical series are estimates from agency data, rounded for clarity. This report is for information only and was prepared with AI assistance — see the disclaimer at the end.

Rare earths are the seventeen metals that make modern technology small, light and efficient — above all the neodymium magnets inside every EV motor, wind turbine, smartphone and guided missile. No commodity carries more geopolitics per kilogram: the rare earth market is tiny in dollar terms, yet China’s grip on it — roughly 70% of mining and 90% of refining and magnet-making — has made these obscure elements the sharpest pressure point in the US-China trade conflict and the object of billion-dollar Western industrial policy. This report is the free, big-picture primer on how the market actually works — what the seventeen elements do, how the price is set without an exchange, who mines and separates them, and what actually moves the sector. For the company-level data behind the charts — every producer screened by production, resources and role in the chain — go to Metal Pilot .

Rare Earth on Metal Pilot Blog

Rare Earths — A Complete Market Guide (2026)