China specifies export quota application conditions for rare earth metal

The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced the conditions and procedures for the export quota application of rare earth and other industrial products for 2011 on Nov. 11, and enterprises that were granted rare earth export quotas for 2010 should apply for rare earth export quotas under the standards specified in the announcement.

According to the announcement, rare earth producers who are applying for rare earth export quotas should comply with related regulations on development plans, policies and management of the rare earth industry and obtain the ISO 9000 quality system certification.

The applicants should have used rare earth raw materials supplied by rare earth mining enterprises that have secured rare earth mining rights from the Ministry of Land and Resources. They must be equipped with environmental management facilities matching their output capacity, and their pollutant emissions should meet national or local emission standards. Distribution enterprises applying for the quotas must obtain the ISO 9000 quality system certification.

Furthermore, the announcement shows that to increase rare earth production concentration and cut the number of export enterprises, enterprises that registered after Jan. 1 of 2007 cannot incorporate the export revenue of their subsidiaries or affiliated companies into their own export revenue while applying for the quotas.

According to the announcement released by the MOFCOM on Oct. 28, the export quotas of a variety of industrial products for 2011 are 15,700 tons of tungsten and tungsten products, 18,900 tons of tin and tin products, 60,300 tons of antimony and antimony products, 25,500 tons of molybdenum, 233 tons of indium, 830,000 tons of alumina, 5,670 tons of silver, 1.5 million tons of phosphate ore, 680,000 tons of talcum powder, 216,000 tons of silicon carbide, 6,500 tons of licorice and 1.85 million tons of magnesite.