Domestic rare earth industry upgrades for profit surge

Mianning (CNS) -- Extension of the industrial chain and upgrading of processing facilities will increase the price of rare earth products from about 30,000 (US$ 4,759) to more than one million yuan per ton, or even likely to more than three million yuan for some fine commodities, Zhu Guozheng told CNS on Wednesday. Zhu is the second chair at Mianning Township in Sichuan.

The region is rich in rare earth resources and houses an industrial park devoted to this industry.

Rare earth material company Maoyuan, for instance, transferred its miner's rights in December 2009 to refocus on producing high-performance and profitable rare earth polishing powders and fluorescent europium oxide.

The closer the product is to the sales terminal, the higher its added value is, manager Fu Zizhong at the local firm said.

Jiangxi Copper Corporation's rare earth holding company has gradually established a complete industrial chain with raw material exploitation, manufacturing, processing and product development sectors. Based in Mianning, it aims to achieve yearly sales revenues of more than 10 billion yuan (about US$ 1.58 billion) in 2015, of which the added value amounts to three billion yuan and the profits (including taxes) come to two billion.

Other state energy giants are also marching into the emerging market, such as Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-earth, China Nonferrous Metal Mining, China Minmetals Corporation, and Aluminum Corporation of China.