Still No Comment from China on Removal of Moly Export Tax

Platts reported that although the May 2 deadline for China to remove its export restrictions on molybdenum is coming up fast, the Asian nation still hasn’t said how it will respond to that requirement.

As quoted in the market news:

China was the world’s largest ferromolybdenum exporter until 2007, when the government imposed a raft of quotas and taxes that reduced exports to a trickle.

The country had since committed to removing the barriers by May 2 after the World Trade Organization last August ruled all its export controls on rare earths, molybdenum and tungsten were illegal.

However with less than a month to go before the deadline, Chinese authorities have given no indication of how they intend to respond.

There is some speculation in the market that the authorities plan to hike domestic taxes on moly mining in conjunction with scrapping the 15%-20% export taxes and quotas as a way of continuing to curb exports while complying with the WTO guidelines.

Click here to read the full Platts report.