Resumen de China allows 105,000 tonnes rare earths production as new taxes arrive
China's Ministry of Land and Resources announced the country's production quotas for rare earths on a provincial and company level on 14 May, specifying that 105,000 tonnes rare earths material may be extracted in 2015.
Production quotas, alongside resource taxes, are widely understood to be the Chinese government's fresh attempt to control the rare earths industry, which the country dominates globally. The new regulations and levies have been installed following the banning of export quotas in 2014 by a 2014 World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling, which said that the barriers to export violated international trade regulations.
Levies are now being based on product prices as opposed to production volumes, for which charges were worked out at Chinese renminbi (Rmb) 60/tonne ($9.67/tonne*) for light rare earths and Rmb 30/tonne ($4.83/tonne) for heavy rare earths. This is likely to increase the financial burden on rare earths producers in China.
