New Rare Earths Taxes and Rules Could Drive Prices Up

Bloomberg reported that China is looking at introducing “new taxes and regulations” for rare earths this June. They are expected to push prices higher.

As quoted in the market news:

The measures will add to pressures loosening China’s stranglehold on the production of rare earths, 17 chemically similar elements used in products from Apple Inc.’s iPods to Toyota Motor Corp. hybrid-electric cars and Tomahawk cruise missiles made by Raytheon Co.

‘Higher prices may spur the development of overseas rare earths’ mining projects,’ said Chen Huan, a rare earth analyst with Beijing Antaike Information Development Co., a research unit of the state-backed China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, who forecasts prices may rise more than 20 percent because of the flagged new rules.

Click here to read the full Bloomberg report.