Rare earths, important minerals used in a wide range of products. 

 Hoarding drives rare earth prices up

稀土下游企业囤而不炼 全产业链赌价格再大涨

As prices of rare earth metals shoot up, rare earths companies are building stockpiles in anticipation of higher prices.

"Due to their surging cost, some manufacturers that use rare earths to make goods have halted production and began to stock up on the minerals," said a manager at Jingcheng Technology Magnetic Materials. "Speculating on rare earths is now more profitable than using them to produce products."

The era of cheap rare earths is over. The prices have risen to alarming levels, taking a heavy toll on the production of companies who use rare earths.

"It is not an overstatement to say these companies are facing a life-or-death moment," the manager said. "Hoarding rare earths is very risky, since no one knows when the prices will go down."

 

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is considering establishing a new pricing mechanism for rare earth to avoid further adverse impact on manufacturers and other companies further down the supply chain, the 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing an unnamed official.