Reporters from the just-concluded " Seventh International Symposium on Rare Earth Development and Application of the second session of the China Rare Earth Summit" has learned that concern RE litigation may result in the formation before the end of this year . Stakeholders from the Chinese Rare Earth Society and the Chinese Society of Rare Earths have said that China 's greater chance of losing , China 's rare earth export policy faces major changes.

" Unsuccessful outcome is Chinese rare earth quotas cancellation policy , rare earth open supply , the government can not be bound by the export behavior of enterprises ." Experts who had been involved in the matter , told reporters that the past experience shows that companies compete to lower prices is inevitable.

Meanwhile, the uncontrolled expansion of domestic production of rare earth , rare earth application of collective weakness , so this has been widely favored industry recession, the industry had been high hopes for the domestic market is also a two-year price " roller coaster" gradually shrinking .

Go to the quota of ?

In Ganzhou Rare Earth Conference on August 11 , in addition to industry analysis , how to control excess capacity to become one of the most important issues , the background is still in rare earth litigation privilege phase. First proposed in 2009 the EU had asked China to lift export quotas of rare metal products ; 2010 United States, Mexico and other countries ED WTO submit a memorandum demanding that the Chinese rare earth export quota system canceled ; 2012 U.S., the EU official in the WTO China 's rare earth export quotas proceedings.

It is understood , Ganzhou Rare Earth shortly before the meeting , Chinese Society of Rare Earths once material is available upon request to the relevant WTO bodies . Experts said that the cancellation may be caused by the impact of export quotas , have begun to assess the worst case back to the old way , foreign companies took orders to the domestic enterprises to seek to find a quote, attracted businesses competing prices down sales, " rare earths prices may have to return to ' cabbage price ' . "

Deputy Secretary-General Chen Zhanheng Chinese Rare Earth Society , said it was oversupply , the annual quota of 30,000 tons, 10,000 tons of actual sales , for the purposes of supply and demand will not be any major changes , "If quotas , tariffs have come down smuggling does not make sense . "

One can not ignore the background , the current domestic production of rare earth smelting separation has a serious surplus . Gong Bin, chairman and general manager of Ganzhou Rare Earth Group Qiandong told reporters that the current separation of ionic rare earth smelting capacity in the South could have exceeded 10 million tons, while Southern Rare Earth as the first boss of the 2013 production target of 3,950 tons of Jiangxi Province .

"We have a plant capacity is twenty-three one hundred tons , but only a few dozen tons to the index , there is enough to eat ." An isolated enterprises in Jiangxi official told reporters , " hungry " is a universal phenomenon, very hungry will buy black ore, "Now is not rigorous implementation invoices , many of the black ore , so much has been impossible to separate smelting capacity idle ."

According to the Secretary-General of China Rare Earth Industry Association Marong Zhang introduced , separating the southern ore smelting enterprises to obtain more than 70% of the ion source is unknown. According to statistics, China 's rare earth more than 200,000 tons , the actual annual production capacity of 15 to 18 million tons, while the actual needs of the world at around 130,000 tons per year , China 's demand for about 10 million tons.

Chinese Society of Rare Earths expert who requested anonymity told reporters that although the pattern of rare earth supply diversification trend more and more obvious , " but if the abolition of quotas and tariffs , China rare earth prices will plummet , could squeeze in other countries of rare earth production line again. "

A year ago , the reporter had informed management experts discuss national level , to assess the impact of rare earth export quota policy canceled after the long term rare earth export quotas is the general direction , but the premise is to make domestic production order to rationalize , to avoid confusion after release .

Bin Gong believes that the rare earth production point of view from the south , central and local state-owned holding separate production capacity has reached 78.5 percent , close to the national requirements of large enterprise groups control 80 percent of southern separation capacity requirements .

"But now the 80% is an enlarged version does not match the original intention of the State Council, if the unlimited expansion of production capacity , control is useless, is a waste ." These experts say .

Officials from the Ministry of Commerce said that the rare-earth litigation is still kept in secret , not publicly . However, the official said , to solve the production and export of rare earth overcapacity problem can not simply count on government policies, the industry itself also needs discipline.

Industry " recession"

According to statistics of China Rare Earth Industry Association , the yield in 2012 these three were Applied Materials fell significantly , magnetic yield 78,000 tons , 04,500 tons luminescent materials , hydrogen storage materials 08,200 tons , down 11.9% , 43.8% , 34.4% , while in the field of non-mainstream applications catalyst " slight increase ."

Rare price index compiled by China Rare Earth Industry Association December 2012 dropped from 234.1 points to 153.8 points in July 3, 2013 , and fell 52.2% , then rebounded to 5 August , an increase of 19.6%.

However,马荣璋still said that despite the recent praseodymium , neodymium, terbium , dysprosium, europium prices rise up to 100 %, but can not make up for shrinking markets.

Beijing Nonferrous Metal Research Institute of rare earth luminescent materials experts Zhuang Weidong said the reporter , and now in addition to the magnetic rare earth downstream applications relative prosperity , the luminescent materials, hydrogen storage materials are very depressed , " LED light-emitting materials by a big impact , hydrogen storage materials are faced with lithium squeeze . " Zhuang Weidong said , the pace of development of LED and lithium industry than originally predicted to be fast .

However, the relative prosperity of the magnetic field of the patented technology in Japan is currently facing squeeze . Japan's Hitachi Metals official website announced that its application for a total of more than 600 NdFeB worldwide, including more than 100 in the United States to apply , in China at the beginning of the year 2000 did not apply to be published before the media quoted insiders as saying 320 number . The Hitachi Metals announced this year in addition to already authorized Zhong Ke San Huan , Ningbo Yunsheng , Beijing Beijing magnetic and other eight companies are no longer licensed to other Chinese companies. 2012 , Hitachi Metals has been in the United States requested the Chinese enterprises, " 337" , the final Chinese companies to pay to obtain patents pending .

It is reported by the patent squeeze some Chinese enterprises are organizing resistance, more than a dozen medium-sized enterprises set up a rare earth NdFeB business alliance , each contributed $ 1.5 million to prepare the United States to sue Hitachi Metals .

马荣璋in Ganzhou Rare proposed to open up new areas of application , such as the annual Chinese surplus will be 30,000 to 50,000 tons of lanthanum, cerium rare earth, rare earth catalyst market may open if you can partially digested these surplus products.

But Dr. Huang Xiaochun from Japan Hirosaki University Faculty of Humanities, Professor pointed out that from the 1970s to now, there have been no revolutionary technological breakthrough in the field of application of rare earth , which reduces the possibility of application of rare earth explosive growth in demand , he believes now overseas RE weak demand , partly due to rising prices of rare earth curbed demand , on the other hand is also a technical bottleneck caused by natural decrease .

Supply offs

In the background of weak downstream , China 's rare earth raw material supply position again being taken seriously . Since the 1990s , the United States Mo 's rare earth production line closed , China's share in the world's rare earth supply has been stable at 90 %, while according to survey the U.S. Geological Survey , China 's rare earth reserves account for 36 % of the world 's total reserves, and continued to decline .

After 2009 , due to the consolidation of China's rare earth industry and environmental governance, the world's rare earth supply diversification began to accelerate . According to the U.S. TMR company tracking research, in recent years, the United States , Canada, Australia, India , Brazil , Vietnam, Mongolia, South Africa , Russia and other 37 countries, 261 companies engaged in 429 RE projects. But the vast majority of which are still in the exploration stage , due to the rare-earth prices fall, the progress of these projects are subject to different degrees.

President of the European Rare Earth Industry Association is hereby established classes , said: "Many countries have rare earth, rare earth to be used in place of rare earth production is reasonable , resources should always be a place for ' trek ' everywhere delivery ."

It is understood that confidence to the outside world mainly U.S. company's crude saltpeter tyndareus tapas molybdenum ore and rare earth rare earth project in Australia 's Rainer , both of the recent increase in the supply of light rare earths , forward will involve heavy rare earths .

Dr. Xie Peijun from the U.S. Geological Survey , told reporters , molybdenum company in 2012 has begun to contract the supply of light rare earth enterprises .

" By comparing the data found that in 2013 the global market for rare earths supply shortages may occur , however , after 2014 will have to reverse this situation . Consumer providers can seek some comfort from diversified sources of supply , the proportion of the West are rare earth production increase . " British metal trader network president Nigel Fontana said.

NDRC original rare group of experts , who Tianyuan Chinese Enfi Engineering professor of Engineers made ​​the world's supply of rare earth China should be set at 70% , both to stabilize China 's industry , but also to meet the needs of the world, " 70 % of the amount of rare earth enterprises in favor of foreign reasonable price , promote rare earth market is relatively stable . "

Data

China 's rare earth resources protection policy

1980s , China promulgated the " Mineral Resources Law " on the national planning mines , of great value to the national economy and national mine -specific protective mining minerals , mining implement planned .

In 1991, China decided to ionic rare earth minerals as a national protective mining of minerals , there are plans to implement unified management from the mining, metallurgical , processing to all aspects of marketing and export .

In 1998, the Chinese government began to implement a system for licensing the export quota of rare earth products , and the inclusion of rare earth materials processing trade ban catalog .

In 2006 , China implemented the total rare earth mining control and management.

2007 , the mandatory production of rare earth production into program management .

In 2008 , the state issued the "National Mineral Resources Plan " ( 2008 to 2015 ) , the protection of the rare earth minerals mining specific plans to implement the regulation , limiting exploitation, strict access and utilization.

In 2009 , the state will protect the sexual exploitation of certain minerals exploration , mining registration , the approval authority to close .

In 2011, the national unity adjust the rare earth mineral ore resources tax , adjusted for tax standard : light rare earth ( including bastnaesite , monazite ) 60 yuan / ton ; heavy rare earth ( including xenotime and ion rare earth mine ) 30 yuan / ton, compared with 0.4 yuan before the adjustment / ton to 2 yuan / ton tax standards have greatly improved.