The Second Round of Chinese Rare-Earth Export-Quota Allocations for 2014

by Gareth Hatch on July 19, 2014 · 1 comment

in China, News Analysis, Rare Earths

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Earlier this week the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced the second round of allocations of rare-earth export quotas for 2014, to companies operating in China. This follows the initial announcement on the first allocation for 2014, which was made in December 2013.

A total of 15,501 t of export quotas was allocated in this second round, comprising 13,692 t of light rare-earth (LRE) products and 1,809 t of medium / heavy rare-earth (M / HRE) products. This brings the total allocations for 2014 to 30,611 t, which is similar to the totals for the past four years.

We can now take a look at the specific allocation numbers associated with this week’s announcement, before reviewing allocations over the past few years. The companies below, highlighted in green are Chinese / non-Chinese joint-venture (JV) companies – the rest are Chinese-owned. The list is sorted from highest-to-lowest total allocation:

Second set of allocations of rare-earth export quotas, issued to
individual companies for 2014. Source: Chinese Ministry of Commerce
Exporting CompanyAllocation (tonnes)
LREM/HRETotal
Grirem Advanced Materials Co.1,0281951,223
China Nonferrous Import-Export Co. Jiangsu Branch9541891,143
Baotou Solvay Rare Earth Co.*959981,057
Gansu Rare Earth New Materials Co.964561,020
Yixing Xinwei Leeshing Rare Earth Co.683136819
Yiyang Hongyuan Rare Earth Co.79024814
Leshan Shenghe Rare Earth Technology Co.72039759
Ganzhou Qiandong Rare Earth Group Co.615118733
China Minmetals Corporation**604114718
Ganzhou Chenguang Rare Earth New Materials Co.63759696
Xuzhou Jinshi Pengyuan Rare Earth Materials Co.61471685
Liyang Solvay Rare Earth New Materials Co.*498181679
Guangdong Rising Nonferrous Metals Group Co.54487631
Jiangyin Jiahua Advanced Material Resources Co.***474153627
Zibo Jiahua Advanced Material Resources Co.***5379546
Jiangxi Rare Earth & Rare Metals Tungsten Group Co.4752477
Sinosteel Corporation43532467
Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare Earth Hi-Tech Co.****37711388
Baotou Huamei Rare Earth Hi-Tech Co.****36916385
Shandong Pengyu Industrial Co.27930309
Inner Mongolia Baotou Hefa Rare Earth Co.****3008308
Chalco Rare Earth (Jiangsu) Co.21184295
Baotou Tianjiao Seimi Rare Earth Polishing Powder Co.****2148222
Baotou Santoku Battery Materials Co.1997206
Huhhot Rongxin New Metal Smelting Co.11810128
Guangdong Zhujiang Rare Earth Co.643599
Ganxian Hongjin Rare Earth Co.*263763
Xi’an Xijun New Materials Co.404
Sub-Total: Chinese-Owned10,6931,34312,036
Sub-Total: Chinese / Non-Chinese JVs2,9994663,465
Total13,6921,80915,501

* Part of Solvay, which was allocated a total of 1,736 t.
** Part of China Minmetals Group, which was allocated a total of 781 t.
*** Part of Molycorp, which was allocated a total of 1,173 t.
**** Part of Baogang Group, which was allocated a total of 1,303 t.

Here is a comparison of the quota allocations for the past six years:

Export quotas for the Chinese rare-earth industry (tonnes)
Source: Chinese Ministry of Commerce
YearPeriodChinese-ownedChinese /
Non-Chinese JV
Sub-TotalTOTAL
2009H115,0436,68521,72850,145
H218,25710,16028,417
2010H116,3045,97822,28230,258
H26,2081,7687,976
2011H110,7623,74614,50830,246
H212,2213,51715,738
2012H116,0665,16021,22630,996
H26,3403,4309,770
2013H111,1364,36315,49930,999
H211,1634,33715,500
2014H110,7564,35415,11030,611
H212,0363,46515,501

In 2014, the proportion of M/HRE to total allocations was 11.8%. This compares to 11.7% for 2013 and 12.5% for 2012, the first year that the quotas were split in this way.

There is once again no reflection in the quota allocations, or in the system as a whole, of the findings of the recent WTO case against China concerning export quotas and tariffs. The WTO ruled that the export-control system for rare earths (and other metals) is at odds with the trade rules of the WTO. The case in the latter stages of the appeals process.

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1 manamohan purandhar July 19, 2014 at 11:42 AM

Dear Sir,
would it be possible to have figures of Rare earth products from Japan

regards

M.Purandhar

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