(Feb 26): Lynas Rare Earths Ltd posted a surge in half-year profit after increasing output and selling its main product at higher prices, trends that its chief executive officer said are accelerating in the current six-month period.
The Australian miner — one of few rare-earth suppliers outside China — reported net income of A$80.2 million (US$57.1 million or $72.1 million) for the six months ended Dec 31, up from A$5.9 million a year earlier. This fell short of a consensus analyst forecast of slightly more than A$112 million, heightened by a global focus on metal supply chains.
Lynas has positioned itself as a key supplier to customers who want to reduce their dependence on China for rare earths, a set of metallic elements used in smartphones, electric vehicles and fighter jets. The company has seen “significant demand” from magnet makers in Japan, CEO Amanda Lacaze said on an investor call on Thursday.
The company — which is backed by Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart — is also in talks with the administration of US President Donald Trump for a potential offtake agreement, while selling material to the US defence industry “at very pleasing prices”, Lacaze said.
Shares in Lynas rose as much as 5.4% on Thursday before paring gains to trade up 0.2% as of 2.41pm in Sydney. The stock has risen by more than a third this year to date.
Rare earths have become a political flashpoint, with China using its dominance of the global supply chain as a crucial bargaining chip in last year’s trade war with Washington. More recently, Beijing banned exports to Japan of products destined for use in military applications, marking an escalation of a diplomatic spat between the countries.
See also: Trump trade team working to narrow scope of metals tariffs, Bloomberg reports
The average China domestic price of neodymium-praseodymium, used in magnets for motors and turbines, rose to US$74 per kilogramme in December 2025 from US$56 at the end of 2024, Lynas said in a statement. Since the last reporting period ended, prices for the company’s main product have climbed even higher, to more than US$111 per kilogramme, Lacaze said. This reflects efforts by the US and its allies to build new supply chains outside China, she added.
“There has been market failure for many years in the rare-earth industry,” Lacaze said. “Enacting policies which ensure that the market is functioning properly, we think, is really important.”
Lacaze is set to retire at the end of June, after 12 years building the company. “I am a little bit sad the next CEO will get all the second-half glory,” she said on the call, predicting that sustained high prices would lead to a further increase in profit.
See also: World’s biggest nickel mine in Indonesia told to cut output — Bloomberg
Lynas, which still sells into the spot market, has turned its focus increasingly to long-term offtake agreements with battery manufacturers as it expands its range of products. The company says it is the only commercial, non-Chinese producer of separated light and heavy rare-earth oxides.
“We are not interested in short-term contracts,” Lacaze said. “We are interested in long-term contracts, which properly reflect the value of the materials that we produce.”
Over the coming months, Lynas will expand its product range to include samarium. It plans to boost production from its Kalgoorlie plant and Malaysian refinery and is considering a possible expansion further downstream into magnet production.
“Securing strategic new offtakes or downstream partnerships would support the current valuation, and Lynas is well positioned via production growth and diversification to achieve this,” Jefferies LLC analysts including Mitch Ryan said in a note.
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