S Korea's Rare Earth Imports from China Growing

SEOUL. Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's dependency on Chinese supplies of rare earth materials seems to have grown, driven by an increase in demand on the back of stable prices in China, customs data showed Thursday.

Imports from China jumped by 37.1 percent to 324 tons in September compared to the month before, according to a report by the Korea Customs Service.

In September, South Korea imported a total of 418 tons of rare earth materials including scandium and yttrium, up 32.8 percent from the previous month, the report showed.

About 77 percent of South Korea's imports of rare earth materials came from China, and 12.6 percent from Japan and 8.6 percent from France, according to the report.

The Korea Customs Services explained that imports from China increased greatly as a stable trend was observed in prices of rare earth materials in China.