Rare-earth prices slump due to poor demand

Prices of some rare-earth materials witnessed dramatic decline this week following months of sluggish performance caused by poor demand, according to data released by a raw material information portal Thursday. Analysts said the prices have declined to a reasonable level after a roller-coaster ride last year.

The price of lanthanum cerium carbonate declined by 38.71 percent this week compared with last week, and the price of cerium carbonate saw a 25.58 percent drop, according to the Beijing-based portal baiinfo.com.

"The slowdown in the economy at home and abroad has dragged down demand for rare-earth products, and consequently impacted their prices," Chen Zhanheng, deputy secretary-general of the China Rare-Earth Industry Association, told the Global Times.

Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used in the field of electronics, alloys, optics products and machinery manufacturing.

"But the rare-earth prices currently have declined to a reasonable level after a steep rise in the first half of 2011, when prices of some rare-earth products reportedly soared to a level six times higher than that in the beginning of the year," Chen noted, however.

Stimulated by the governments' favorable polices including pushing forward the application of rare earth last February and May, supplies of rare earth increased dramatically in 2011.

"Inventory of rare earth is huge now, so the price will continue to ease in the following months this year, even though some producers have announced to suspend production," Du Shuaibing, an industry analyst with baiinfo.com, told the Global Times.

Sliding prices have eroded the rare-earth companies' profits.

Inner-Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth (Group) Hi-Tech Co, the country's largest rare-earth producer, announced in August that its net profit fell more than 20 percent in the first half of the year compared to a year earlier.

Guangdong Rising Nonferrous Metals Group Co reported a 92 percent decline in net profit in the first half this year compared with the same period last year.

Illegal mining has had a huge impact on the business of major companies, Chen of the China Rare-Earth Industry Association said.

"We also have found that some of the rare earth metals were smuggled to other countries like Japan and the US at lower prices, and related departments must strictly prevent the practice," Chen said.

Attracted by the high prices, foreign countries like the US, Australia and Malaysia have joined in rare-earth exploitation, and "China possibly may not need to supply 90 percent of the global demand," Liu Yi'nan, deputy director of the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers & Exporters, was quoted by Shanghai Securities News as saying Wednesday.