My 2 cents worth on dropping prices /demand. have a read of these 2 articles..seems many are still on the hunt...price outlook will stabilize
china has had the monopoly, monopoly's become contested. China's hold is being broken and to me could well atribute to prices falling.
Export quota for rare earths to stay the same Updated: 2012-12-20 07:46 By Wang Zhuoqiong
The export quota for rare earths will be unchanged next year despite decade-low exports this year, industry leaders said.
The price of rare earths should remain stable and better reflect their true value, and export volumes in 2013 will be similar to those of 2012, Liu Yinan, vice-chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters, told China Daily on Wednesday.
In the nine months to October, 9,967 metric tons were exported, according to the China Customs Statistics Information Center.
That is just one-third of China's 2012 quota of 30,996 tons.
China supplies 90 percent of the world's rare earths, the collective name of 17 elements needed to manufacture various high-tech products.
Export volumes dropped 11.5 percent from a year ago, and were valued at $702 million, a fall of 61.5 percent. Exports this year are estimated to reach about 12,000 tons, Liu said, a 10-year low.
Last year, 16,900 tons of rare earths were exported. During the peak in 2003, exports hit 70,000 tons.
Liu attributed the slump to the slowdown in the global economy that has weakened demand from major importers such as Japan and the United States.
Rising prices last year forced many manufacturers to switch to other materials or seek new markets for rare earths.
Mining operations have started in countries that had not been exporting rare earths.
Lynas Corp, a mining company in Australia, is expected to begin yielding 22,000 tons of rare earths annually by late 2013.
Molycorp in the United States said it has the ability to produce 40,000 tons of rare earths a year.
Miners in India and Russia are also providing new resources.
Liu said the price of some rare earth products has fluctuated wildly over the past two years.
Du Shuaibing, an analyst at Baichuan Information, which focuses on analyzing the market for raw materials, said price and demand will be higher in 2013 as the global economy improves.
"The price will be higher than this year, but supply will still exceed demand," Du said.
Fluctuating prices are driving potential buyers away, he said.
"If they don't have faith in the price, there will be no deals, no demand," he said.
AND another from Japan...
Tokyo’s new governor, Naoki Inose, announced the city would subsidize companies with a project to mine rare earth elements from the seabed off Minami-Torishima Island, to the southeast of Tokyo.
The Asahi Shimbum reports that the measure aims to help local businesses and the national industry by reducing Japan’s dependence on China as a leading source of rare earths imports.
Experts estimate the Minami-Torishima island seabed holds rare earth deposits equivalent to more than 200 times what Japan needs a year. But the extraction of those resources from the sea floor requires technology and funding.
Recently Japan has been turning to Central Asia for supplies of rare earth minerals, with Sumitomo Corp opening a rare earth plant in conjunction with state-owned Kazakh company Kazatomprom last November.
China’s export controls on rare earths have soured ties with the world’s major users, including the U.S. and Japan. The World Trade Organization (WTO) agreed in July to probe China’s export limits and tariffs on the metals amid complaints that the curbs break global commerce rules.
Beijing currently supplies 95% of the world's rare earth minerals, occupying a position not too dissimilar to that enjoyed by OPEC with respect to oil. A few years ago, the nation embarked on a crackdown on illegal rare earth mines and consolidation of the industry under a few large producers.
Controversially the country – which is also the number one consumer of rare earths – also places a cap on exports to put a floor under prices of the 17 elements used in a variety of industries including green technology, defence systems and consumer electronics.
According to China Customs figures, exports of rare earths reached only 1,345 tons in October 2012, down 18% from the month before and far below the annual quota of more than 30,000 tonnes.
Production cuts have not achieved much either.
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