Australia’s Lynas fourth-quarter revenue jumps on soaring rare earths demand

(Reuters) – Australia’s Lynas Rare Earths Ltd on Monday posted a 58% rise in quarterly revenue as the miner of essential metals cashed in on soaring global demand for greener sources of power.

Demand for rare earth minerals – which are used in everything from cars to laptops to missiles – has sky-rocketed in recent years as countries and companies look to curtail carbon emissions.

While Lynas’ fourth quarter revenue grew by nearly three-fifths year-on-year to A$294.5 million ($199.97 million), the miner posted a lower revenue figure compared with third-quarter revenue of A$327.7 million.

Similarly, the miner’s quarterly rare-earths oxide (REO) production fell 26.2% sequentially as the company experienced water supply disruptions in Malaysia, it said.

The company also clocked quarterly production of 1,579 tonnes of neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr), down from 1,687 tonnes in March quarter.

Minerals like NdPr are mostly used by automakers to make magnets used in electric vehicles.

Lynas’ also posted an average selling price of A$79.2 per kilogram for its product range, double the value it got last year.

($1 = 1.4728 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Jaskiran Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Chang and Sam Holmes)