On August 22, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) issued the second batch of rare earth export quotas for the current year to the eligible domestic enterprises.
Accordingly, in the second batch 24 enterprises received rare export quotas totaling 9,770 mt, consisting of 8,537 mt for light rare earth and 1,233 mt for heavy rare earth.
The MOC stated that the quota volumes were calculated according to the actual export performances in 2009-2011 of the companies in question, which include Chinese steelmaker Baotou Iron and Steel, China Minmetals Corporation, Guangdong Rising Nonferrous Metals Group, Aluminum Corporation of China and others.
The first batch of rare earth export quotas for the current year totaled 21,226 mt, giving a total quota volume for the current year of 30,996 mt when combined with the second batch. China's total rare earth export quota last year amounted to 30,184 mt.