lyc sp and the price of rees, page-29

Two other factors Soho, both a function of bubble prices:

Smuggling out of China to avoid the VAT & tariffs - China has made some strong moves to bring this under control.

Hoarding by traders speculating on rising prices, accentuated by the lack of direct supply chains from producers to end users. China has been rapidly consolidating miners & processors and established the trading platform in an effort to make the supply more transparent.
Lynas's marketing platform Rare Earths Direct says it all really, and I'll note that that strategy has been in place for several years, well before bubble prices and demand destruction.
However it seems it will take a while longer for trader's stockpiles to move thru the system as witnessed by estimates of total Chinese exports of only 11kt this year against 30kt quotas. Japan alone imported 21kt 2011.