China's Thorium Ore Imports Surge 38% YoY in H1 2026, Rare Earth Oxides Up 14%

[SMM Rare Earth Daily Review: Rare earth prices in the doldrums, market trading remains sluggish] Overall, rare earth market prices are generally in the doldrums, mainly affected by multiple factors such as disappointing downstream new orders, a sluggish market trading atmosphere, and a decline in Pr-Nd oxide futures prices, prompting suppliers to lower their quotes slightly. In the short term, impacted by the stalemate in market trading, Pr-Nd product prices will likely move sideways.

Li Huidi, Deputy General Manager of China Mobile Group, recently pointed out at a sub-forum of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference that optical interconnect possesses inherent advantages in terms of large bandwidth, low latency, low loss, long distance, and high-density integration. Optical interconnect is expected to break through the communication bottleneck within large-scale clusters, improving the synergy among GPUs, AI chips, and servers. Optical computing opens up new imaginative space for specific computing tasks, energy efficiency optimization, and new-type computing paradigms. Optics and electronics are not in a simple substitution relationship; rather, they complement each other's strengths at different levels and in different scenarios. Next, China Mobile will build high-quality computing power infrastructure and enhance intelligent computing supply and green operation capabilities; foster an open and collaborative AI industry ecosystem and promote the deep integration of large models with industries; and support innovation in cutting-edge technologies such as optical interconnect and optical computing, validating their value in real-world scenarios.