Rare Earth Export Prices Kept Rising amid Global Shortages, China Rare Earth Exports Rose 5.7% YoY in January-August

SHANGHAI, Sep 9 (SMM) - Customs data showed that China’s rare earth exports fell 6.7% YoY to 3,673.6 mt in August, but  rose 5.7% YoY to 33,539.4 mt during January-August.

Recently, China's environmental protection policies have been tightened, and the growth rate of rare earth mining quotas has slowed down. The average price of China's rare earth exports in August 2022 was $26/kg, up 93.8% year on year, hitting a new record high. 

From January to August 2022, the average price of China's rare earth exports was $21.9/kg, up 66.7% year on year, and the year-on-year growth rate was significantly higher than that of 2021 (36.5%).  Demand for rare earth soared due to the international carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. Due to increasing geopolitical tensions and inflation factors, countries have been tightening the export of rare earth. Thus, the global supply of rare earth has become even more scarce, driving up export prices. In China, the supply of rare earth was sufficient, while downstream demand declined due to the pandemic, high temperature, and power rationing. As a result, the prices of rare earth ore, oxides and metals have plummeted.  The average price of Pr-Nd metal have fallen 48% to 715,000 yuan/mt as of September 8 after hitting a record high in February, according to SMM data.