Why Shares in Rare Earth Company MP Materials Surged Again This Week
Very few companies demonstrate the complexity of the current trade conflict and the strategic necessity of securing rare earth materials for the U.S. more effectively than MP Materials (NYSE: MP), and its share price action this week, up 21.8% at the time of writing, underscores this point.Management describes the company as being "America's rare earth magnetics champion," as it is "America's only fully integrated rare earth producer." However, as fellow Fool.com writer Rich Smith notes, Shenghe Resources (a majority-owned subsidiary of China's Shenghe Resources Holding Company) was a major customer of MP Materials, and the company that MP Materials "sells the vast majority of its rare earth concentrate" to, according to its SEC filings. Moreover, in mid-April, MP Materials said it had "ceased shipments of rare earth concentrate to China" due to China's tariffs and the issue of selling critical materials not being "aligned with America's national interest." As such, the trade conflict is a near-term negative for MP Materials.Continue reading
Very few companies demonstrate the complexity of the current trade conflict and the strategic necessity of securing rare earth materials for the U.S. more effectively than MP Materials (NYSE: MP), and its share price action this week, up 21.8% at the time of writing, underscores this point.
Management describes the company as being "America's rare earth magnetics champion," as it is "America's only fully integrated rare earth producer." However, as fellow Fool.com writer Rich Smith notes, Shenghe Resources (a majority-owned subsidiary of China's Shenghe Resources Holding Company) was a major customer of MP Materials, and the company that MP Materials "sells the vast majority of its rare earth concentrate" to, according to its SEC filings.
Moreover, in mid-April, MP Materials said it had "ceased shipments of rare earth concentrate to China" due to China's tariffs and the issue of selling critical materials not being "aligned with America's national interest." As such, the trade conflict is a near-term negative for MP Materials.
