Rare earth elements undervalued

Rare earth elements are referred to by many names such as "vitamins for industry" and "elements of the future". Their importance lies in their being widely used in industries, especially electronic devices.

China produces, uses, reserves and exports the highest amount of rare earth. The rare earth market in the country was disorderly before 2005 because of the lack of proper supervision and regulation. In fact, chaos was the name of the game until five years ago as many small-sized enterprises, with poor efficiency and no long-term plans, exploited rare earth. The rare earth metals were not only wasted because of poor storage facilities, but also some strategically important ones were smuggled out of the country, dealing a blow to the national economy and security.

But local government departments have now taken measures, such as adjusting the export quotas and increasing tariff ratios, to restore order and regain control of the pricing rights. Thanks to their efforts the situation has improved to a large extent.