Brazilian rare earths hot spot

Brazilian rare earths hot spot

Lack of inspiration was the signature last week as the end of financial year blues dominated activity. We see this every year, so there is no need to think too much about it. The normal cycle involves a very quiet June, then school holidays in July, followed by a gentle improvement thereafter.

There will always be some pockets of activity that seem to defy the trend but it is interesting how the procession of companies going into rare earth in Brazil continues, now with a flavour of niobium to add to the story. The latest entrant is the $15m IPO of Axel REE Limited, launched by Bell Potter.

Much of the Brazilian inspiration is coming from Brazilian Rare Earths (BRE), a company that IPO'd on the ASX in December 2023, after raising $50m at $1.47. That gave it an initial market capitalisation of $314m that has since risen to more than $700m as at last Friday's close of $3.25 (having hit $3.88 a few days earlier). Last week it raised another $80m at $3.30 a share. That is exactly what it should be doing; feeding the ducks when they are quacking.