Market Data 
(Reuters) -Lynas Rare Earths posted a drop in quarterly revenue on Tuesday, hit by a decline in production at its Kalgoorlie facility in Western Australia and lower underlying prices.
The company’s operations in Malaysia also went through a maintenance shutdown during the period, which the rare earths miner indicated took over a month.
Total rare earth oxide (REO) output for the fourth-quarter came in at 2,188 REO tonnes, the company said, a more than 50% plunge from the year-ago quarter.
“The main bearings on one of the kilns failed and required a maintenance shutdown that took over a month,” Lynas said, referring to its downstream Malaysia operations.
Sluggish demand from green energy companies and electric automakers, coupled with rising global supply, has severely dented prices for rare earth products.
“Despite a slight improvement in China domestic end product demand, market prices remained low,” Lynas said.
The average selling price came in at A$42.3 per kilogram (kg) in the quarter, the company said, compared with A$43.5 per kg a year earlier.
The world’s largest producer of rare earths outside of China posted sales revenue of A$136.6 million ($90.72 million) for the three months ended June 30, compared with A$157.5 million.
Rare earths are a group of metals whose strong magnetic properties make them critical to sectors including electric vehicles and defence because of the energy efficiencies they allow.
($1 = 1.5058 Australian dollars)
