China Surprised The Market By Issuing A Third Round Of Rare Earth Mining, Smelting And Separation Quotas, With A Spike In Light Rare Earth Quotas 

According to the practice in previous years, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology generally issues rare earth production quotas twice a year, but this year it issued three batches for the first time, which aroused heated discussions among players in the industry.

On December 15, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice that the total quotas for the third batch of rare earth mining in 2023 at 15,000 mt, and smelting & separation at 13,850 mt. The total control indicators for rare earth mining, smelting and separation in 2023 are 255,000 mt and 243,850 mt respectively.

It is worth mentioning that the 15,000 mt of total rare earth mining quotas issued in the third batch are all rock ore-type rare earths, that is, light rare earth. This year’s light rare earth production quotas increased by 23.58% year-on-year, while those of medium and heavy rare earth remained the same as in the past five years.