Rare Earths

Terbium

A scarce heavy rare earth used in high-temperature magnets and phosphors.

TbStrategic score 90US Critical MineralEU Critical Raw Material

Price

$780 / USD/kg oxide

Price change

15.3%

Producing assets

Technologies

Context

Why it matters

Terbium is among the scarcest and most supply-constrained elements in the magnet supply chain.

Profile

Applications: High-performance magnets, Phosphors and lighting, Magnetostrictive alloys, Solid-state devices
Supply risk: Very high, with a very thin ex-China supply base.
Geopolitics: Heavily concentrated in Chinese and Myanmar-sourced ionic clays.
Substitutes: Partially interchangeable with dysprosium for thermal stability.
Recycling: Very low.
Sustainability: Shares the ionic clay extraction concerns of the heavy rare earth group.
Forecast: Structurally tight; price spikes accompany any export policy change.
Key countries: 2 tracked producer and processing roles

Methodology

Version v0.1

Demand Outlook: 91 (weight 1.2) — Projected demand growth relative to the broader mineral economy over the next decade.
Supply Risk: 88 (weight 1.2) — Likelihood of supply falling short of demand, accounting for project pipeline and lead times.
Geographic Concentration: 97 (weight 1) — How concentrated mining and processing are across countries and companies.
Geopolitical Risk: 87 (weight 1) — Exposure to export controls, sanctions and jurisdictional instability.
Technology Importance: 99 (weight 1.1) — How central the mineral is to strategically important technologies.
Strategic Importance: 92 (weight 1) — Recognition in national critical mineral lists and defence supply chains.
Substitutability: 81 (weight 0.8) — How readily the mineral can be replaced without material performance loss. Higher is harder to substitute.
Recycling Potential: 82 (weight 0.7) — Ability of secondary supply to relieve primary demand. Higher means less relief available.

Assets

The centre of global heavy rare earth separation capacity.

A heavy rare earth enriched deposit and one of Europes most strategically discussed resources.

Research

Western rare earth strategy has focused on deposits. The constraint has always been further down the chain.

Europe has deposits, low-carbon power and magnet demand. It lacks separation.

Materials

A light rare earth element and the backbone of high-performance NdFeB permanent magnets.

A heavy rare earth added to magnets to preserve performance at high operating temperatures.

A light rare earth usually produced and traded jointly with neodymium as NdPr oxide.