70% of China's rare earth exports Japan and the United States Department of Commerce calls on other countries to increase mining

The basic situation of China's rare earth exports this year is that exports to Japan and the United States together account for 70% of exports. At the press conference of the Ministry of Commerce on November 16, Yao Jian answered a question from a Japanese reporter about China's rare earth export quota.

Over the past few months, the Chinese government's control measures for the rare earth industry have caused controversy in other countries, especially in Europe, America and Japan. Some countries even accused China of monopolizing resources and demanded that China relax its control over rare earth industries.

According to the customs data, the total amount of rare earths exported by China during the period from January to September was 32,200 tons, with an average unit price of US$14,800 per ton. Among them, the export volume to Japan was 16,000 tons, accounting for 49.8%, an increase of 167% year-on-year; the export volume to the United States was 6,200 tons, accounting for 19%, an increase of 5.5% year-on-year.

"At present, China's total rare earth reserves account for about 30% of the world's total, but it provides 80%-90% of the world's total production and trade." At the press conference that day, Yao Jian said that the establishment of a global economic order requires global cooperation, hope Other countries with rare earth resources can further develop rare earth resources and provide rare earths for global industries, especially high-tech products.

Mining reduced by 25% in 2010

Yao Jian said that the goal of China's rare earth export management is energy conservation and environmental protection.

“According to the requirements of the WTO, the Chinese government has further strengthened energy conservation and environmental protection measures in the aspects of exploitation, production, and export. In the mining sector, the amount of extraction volume issued in 2010 has been reduced by 25% compared to 2009. In the production smelting process, the competent authorities The amount of plans issued was reduced by 23% year-on-year, said Yao Jian.

In 1998, China began to implement a quota system for the export of rare earth products, and included rare earth raw materials in the list of prohibited commodities for processing trade. In 2006, China stopped issuing new rare earth ore mining licenses and imposed a mandatory plan for rare earth mining.

According to the latest document released by the Ministry of Commerce, the total number of rare earth export quotas for the whole year was 30,258 tons, which was nearly 40% lower than the 50,145 tons in 2009.

At the same time, it imposed a tariff of 15%-20% on the export of rare earths, and included rare earth raw ore and 41 rare earth products as banned products for processing trade.

China is not the only country in the world that has rare earths, but has assumed the role of supplying most of the world's rare earths for the past several decades, resulting in the cost of destroying its natural environment and consuming its own resources.

Liu Aisheng, honorary director of the Chinese Society of Rare Earths and director of the Rare Earth Office of the former Ministry of Metallurgical Industry, believes that the development of rare earths in China has caused environmental pollution and waste of resources. At present, the waste water, waste gas, and waste residue discharged by many rare earth manufacturers in China do not meet the national standards for emissions.

Yao Jian also emphasized that the main purpose of the restrictions on rare earth mining and exporting is to strengthen environmental protection and protect available resources.

“The measures adopted by China to restrict export quotas are implemented in parallel in the extraction, production, processing, and export links in accordance with the WTO rules. Its core purpose is to protect the environment. In order to protect the basic needs of the international market, China has been facing resources for many years. The pressure of the environment, and strive to maintain a considerable amount of rare earth exports." Yao Jian said.

At present, the Ministry of Commerce is planning to hold a rare earth international cooperation forum recently, inviting rare earth producers and sellers from various countries to jointly discuss technical cooperation in the production, processing, manufacture, and sales of rare earths.

“We are willing to cooperate with other countries in the world to further improve the environmental protection of rare earths in mining, production and processing, and jointly undertake 80%-90% of production and trade volume, because China urgently needs to solve environmental and technical problems,” said Yao Jian.

Thirty-two enterprises have obtained rare earth export qualifications. Currently, China's rare earth production accounts for more than 90% of the world's total. To accelerate the integration of rare earth industries, in early September, the State Council announced the "Opinions on Promoting Enterprise Mergers and Acquisitions" (hereinafter referred to as "opinions"), and For the first time, rare earths have been included in the support.

However, a number of rare earth industry veterans said in an interview that the "Opinion" does not fundamentally increase industry concentration.

Liu Aisheng was worried that the problem that may be encountered in the restructuring of rare earth enterprises is that, compared with the state-owned mining companies in the north, the rare earth companies in the south are mostly private, small-scale and scattered, and restructuring is more difficult.

What worried him more is that although China's rare earth resources have advantages in the short term, the problem of protecting resources is equally urgent.

“A statistic I have read shows that the Baotou Bayou Obo main and east mines can be mined for about 42 years according to the current mining volume. Sichuan Liangshan Mine (Gannioping) can be mined for about 30 years at an annual output of 15,000 tons. Jiangxi The ionic mine can be mined for 8-10 years," said Liu Aisheng.

The exploitation of rare earth resources in recent years has led to a sharp drop in rare earth reserves. At present, China accounts for 30% of the world's proven rare earth resources. In 1996, China's rare earth reserves accounted for 43% of the world's total.

At present, the Ministry of Commerce further strengthens the management of qualifications for enterprises that export rare earths. On November 10 this year, the Ministry of Commerce announced the “Announcement of the 2011 Application Criteria and Application Procedures for the Export Quota of Rare Earths”.

The Ministry of Commerce will review the qualifications of the bidding companies, conduct a preliminary review of the winning results of the enterprises, and publicize the results on the Chinese e-commerce website.

"Application qualifications and other relevant regulations have not changed compared to last year. At present, there are 32 companies that have the qualification to export rare earths, including 10 foreign investors," Yao Jian said.

Su Ning, head of the Industrial Products Division of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, said at the China International Silver Annual Conference held earlier that Chinese rare earth reserves fell by 37% from 1996 to 2009, leaving only 27 million tons. According to the current production speed, China's rare earth reserves can only be maintained for 15-20 years and may need to be imported. It is precisely because of the seriousness of the problem that the relevant departments have reduced the export quota of rare earths in recent years. This has also become an excuse for Europe, the United States, Japan, and other countries to accuse China of its rare earth export policy.

The accusations against China from the outside world, including officials from ministries of the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have frequently responded to such issues in public. Industry insiders believe that relevant industry associations are needed to promote the rational distribution and sustainable development of China's rare earth industries.

According to sources, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Industry has already handed over the work and participated in the establishment of the China Rare Earth Industry Association. The proposed charter shows that the China Rare Earth Association can exert influence on key issues in the rare earth industry, such as export prices and export quotas.