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Events/Law or policy · 2010

China cuts rare earth export quota

Law or policy, 2010-07, China.

What happened

China allocated 7,976 t for the second tranche of its 2010 rare earth export quota in July 2010, against 26,427 t for the second tranche of 2009. USGS puts the full 2010 quota 37.1 percent below 2009. Actual exports in 2010 were 20,258 t, down 40 percent on 2009.1,2,3

Why it matters

USGS says rare earth product prices rose sharply in 2010 after the drop in exports.1,2,3

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Mountain Pass mining stops

    The pause left China with over 90 percent of world rare earth production in the years that followed.2,4

  2. China cuts rare earth export quota

    USGS says rare earth product prices rose sharply in 2010 after the drop in exports.1,2,3

  3. Lynas starts Mount Weld concentrate production

    Mount Weld was the main new rare earth source outside China after the 2010 export quota cuts.2,5

  4. Molycorp commissions new Mountain Pass operations

    From 2012 to 2015 the US was a leading producer of rare earths outside China.2,4

  5. WTO dispute over China's rare earth export restrictions

    The case tested export controls on critical minerals.6,7

Open the full timeline

Where next

Events

Led toLynas starts Mount Weld concentrate productionMount Weld was the main new rare earth source outside China after the 2010 quota cuts.2Led toMolycorp commissions new Mountain Pass operationsIn 2012 Molycorp commissioned new mine and processing operations at Mountain Pass.2Led toWTO dispute over China's rare earth export restrictionsIn 2012 the US asked for WTO talks on China's rare earth export duties and quotas.6Came out ofMountain Pass mining stopsWith Mountain Pass idle from 2002 to 2011, China cut its export quota in 2010.1

Sources

  1. China's Rare-Earth Industry, OFR 2011-1042 US Geological Survey
  2. Rare-Earth Elements, Professional Paper 1802-O US Geological Survey
  3. Beijing (item Q956), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  4. Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine (item Q4285560), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  5. Mount Weld Mine (item Q1950809), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  6. DS431 China: measures related to the exportation of rare earths, tungsten and molybdenum World Trade Organization
  7. Geneva (item Q71), coordinate location P625 Wikidata

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Salar de Atacama, Chile, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)).