China Cuts Rare Earth Export Quotas by 11%

China may have cut the 2011 export quotas of rare earth by 11 percent year-on-year, reports China Business News.

The Ministry of Commerce issued the first batch of rare earth export quotas for 2011, with the export volume at 14,500 tons.

The first batch of rare earth export quotas in 2010 was 16,300 tons.

A total of 31 enterprises obtained export quotas for rare earth for 2011, including Sinosteel Group, China Minmetals Non-ferrous Metals and Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth (Group) Hi-Tech.

China Minmetals is the largest rare earth exploration company in south China while Baotou Rare-Earth is the largest rare earth mining company in north China.

Shares of Baotou Rare-Earth fell 0.83 percent to close at 64.89 yuan on December 29, 2010.