Japan Rare Metal Import Prices Jump Up in November

Japanese rare earth import decreased by 76% to 223 tonnes in November from a year earlier, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance. The import volume largely decreased due to China’s actual embargo of rare earth export against Japan. Meanwhile, the export regulation was gradually relieved and the import volume rebounded from 97 tonnes in October.

The import unit price of rare earth was 4,383 yen per kilogram, more than triple of a year earlier. Chinese government announced in July the government reduced export license (EL) quota of rare earth by 40% compared with the level in 2009. The market price jumped up such for metallic neodymium, which is used for permanent magnets.

The government’s EL reduction policy also pushed up the market price of cerium oxide and lanthanum oxide. Chinese rare metal exporters are recently focusing on the sales of metallic elements such as neodymium after Chinese government’s EL regulation due to the higher profitability of the elements than oxide products. As a result, supply volume of oxide products decreased and the market prices surged.