Only a Third of China’s Quota for Rare Earths Exported

China exported only about one-third of its annual export quota for rare earth minerals in the first 10 months of 2012.

According to data from the Customs Statistics Information Center, some 11,312 tons were exported from the beginning of January to the end of October, 36.5 percent of the quota for the year set by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

In 2011, China set rare earth export quotas of 30,200 tons but only 18,600 tons were exported, official data shows.

The MOC set the quota for the first batch of export for 2013 at 15,501 tons, without giving the annual total.

Twenty-four companies, such as Baogang Group, China Minmetals Corp. and Aluminum Corp. of China, have obtained their export quotas for this year's first batch, according to the report.

    Baogang, the country's largest producer of rare earth minerals, has the biggest share of the quota. Its four subsidiaries have been allowed to export a combined 1,811 tons.

The United States, European Union, Japan, along with Canada, lodged a complaint with the WTO in March, claiming Beijing was unfairly choking off exports of the commodities to benefit domestic industries.

Rare earths, as vital non-renewable natural resources, are a group of 17 metals vital to a wide range of products and materials like smart phones, wind turbines, electric car batteries, and countless other applications.

China has been insisting that it's unfair to bear the burden of supplying 90 percent of rare-earth demand while only having 23 percent of global reserves, and began to implement stricter environmental standards on mining and refining.

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