China's Latest Rare Earth Policy

[Maly]

China's Latest Rare Earth Policy
On June 17, at a press conference on macroeconomic performance, Meng Hao, spokesman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that it is speeding up research and development of relevant policies and measures to effectively play the special value of rare earth as a strategic resource. According to industry insiders, from the position of the National Development and Reform Commission, controlling the production of rare earths will be the main trend of the rare earth policy in the future. For core technology breakthroughs in high-end applications, relevant incentive policies will be introduced in the future.
Normative development
Meng Hao said that in light of the current illegal production of rare earth industry, the industry will rectify the norms and regulations, build a long-term regulatory mechanism, and regulate the industry development order. In view of the history of environmental protection and environmental protection in the rare earth industry, the ecological restoration and environmental management of the mine will be promoted, the research and development of rare earth green mining and smelting and separation technologies will be accelerated, and the green development of the rare earth industry will be promoted.
Du Shuaibing, senior analyst of Baichuan Information Rare Earth, told the China Securities Journal that the country will vigorously rectify the historical legacy of the development of the rare earth industry. Issues concerning theft of rare earth mines, illegal production of separation enterprises, and super-planned production will be severely investigated. At present, there is a serious excess of China's rare earth capacity, and there are irrational development problems. Supply side reforms may be possible for excess rare earth capacity.

At present, the production capacity of China's rare earth enterprises is about 400,000 tons, and the annual demand is about 200,000 tons. "On the issue of environmental protection of rare earths, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has conducted research to emphasize the problem of the history of environmental protection of the rare earth industry, and promotes mine development and environmental management. The environmental protection problems of rare earth production enterprises will be strictly examined and rectified or shut down. Du Shuai Bing said.
Meng Hao said that in response to the shortage of high-end industries in the rare earth industry, the innovation incentive mechanism will be improved, enterprises will be strengthened to strengthen intellectual property protection, and a number of key core technologies will be broken to enhance the competitiveness of the industry.
“Rare earths have a wide range of applications, and industrial end-use research will more effectively improve the structural consumption of rare earth elements. Follow-up on the core technology breakthroughs in high-end application of rare earths will introduce relevant incentive policies.” Du Shuaibing said that overall, the promotion of rare earths In terms of high-quality industrial development, relevant policies will be introduced to effectively solve the problems of eco-environmental protection, illegal production, overcapacity, and lag in terminal applications in the development of rare earth industry. The benign development of the industry will lead to changes in the rare earth market, with supply falling and prices rising.
Mandatory standard
The website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently announced that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has organized the completion of the mandatory national standards for the packaging, labeling, transportation and storage of rare earth products. Before the standard is approved for publication, in order to further listen to the opinions of the community, the standard approval draft and preparation instructions will be publicized. The deadline is July 15, 2019. The Exposure Draft increases the traceability of raw materials for the packaging, marking, transportation and storage standards of rare earth products, so as to visually confirm the source of mineral products of related rare earth products.
In particular, since the trading of rare earth products is sometimes changed by many intermediate trading companies, it is difficult to trace the traceability of rare earth raw materials used in rare earth products. Many rare earth enterprises recommend to eliminate the traceability of rare earth products. However, in view of the current illegal mining of rare earth mines and repeated prohibitions, the competent national authorities strongly demand that the traceability of raw materials be increased in the packaging, marking, transportation and storage standards for rare earth products. That is, the name of the raw material mineral product manufacturer is required to be standardized in the standardization of rare earth mineral products, single rare earth compounds, mixed rare earth compounds, single rare earth metals, and mixed rare earth metals, so as to visually confirm the legality of the source of the related rare earth products.
According to industry insiders, national standards are divided into mandatory national standards and recommended national standards. The packaging, marking, transportation and storage standards for rare earth products will soon become another mandatory standard for the rare earth industry following the energy consumption standards and pollution discharge standards, and its significance is self-evident.
Establish a traceability and review mechanism for the export of rare earth commodities, which can better regulate the export of rare earths. On May 1, 2015, the state abolished export tariffs and rare earth quotas. The export volume of rare earths increased sharply. From the total export volume of 47,729 tons in 2014 to 53,224 tons in 2018, the annual export volume increased by 23%. According to the national rare earth index of 120,000 tons in 2018, the export volume accounts for 44% of the production index.
According to industry insiders, the rare earth products increase the traceability of raw materials, which can trace the output of enterprises, and has far-reaching significance for cutting off the black industrial chain and promoting the healthy development of the rare earth industry.