China’s rare earths facing ‘race to the bottom’ due to underpricing
- China’s rare earths exports hit a five-year low in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic-stricken overseas demand and rising supply in domestic industries
- Rare earths are a group of 17 minerals used in military equipment, consumer electronics and electric vehicles
China’s rare earths are underpriced due to vicious competition and face low resource utilisation, which would lead to a race to the bottom, the country’s industry minister said on Monday.
“Our rare earths did not sell at the ‘rare’ price but sold at the ‘earth’ price … because of competitive bidding, which wasted the precious resource,” said Xiao Yaqing from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
The country’s rare earths exports hit a five-year low in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic-stricken overseas demand and rising supply in domestic industries.
“Government should play a role in maintaining market order, to loose what can be loosen and control what should be controlled,” Xiao added.
The minister said some producers were producing excessive amounts of rare earths, causing environmental issues and leading to low resource utilisation rates.
We should learn from Japanese enterprises in this regard, as many Japanese enterprises have done a lot of work in the high-end rare earths products
Meanwhile, the industry is also lacking high-level rare earth products, which is against technological innovation and progress, he added.
“We should learn from Japanese enterprises in this regard, as many Japanese enterprises have done a lot of work in the high-end rare earths products,” he added.
China’s rare earths mining quota in the first half of 2021 were set at 84,000 tonnes, a 27 per cent jump from a year earlier.
