Rare earth companies 'halt production'

Aluminum Corp of China (Chinaclo)'s Jiangsu company decided to halt its four rare earth smelting and separation factories from Nov 1, Security Daily reported, citing anonymous sources.

The report followed earlier reports that Baogang Rare Earth under Baogang Group and China Minmetals Rare Earth Co Ltd have halted some of their factories' production.

Asked how long the production halt will last, the anonymous source said: "It should not last too long. Because of flagging domestic demand and declining overseas orders as more and more foreign buyers turn to foreign suppliers, the price has dropped. The production will resume after the price can offer reasonable profits."

Jiangsu Provincial Rare Earth Guild last Friday issued a document recommending major rare earth smelting and separation firms to halt their production from November.

"The major firms' measures will produce a role model effect. Market statistics indicated that the rare earth price is growing for the first time in the past two months," an analyst said.