Since 2013, the total amount of rare earths exported to China has been increasing. In terms of price, the export price of rare earths bottomed out in 2016, reaching US$7510/ton. In the past two years, it has been in the channel of recovery, and some rare earths under the trade war. The increase in price tariffs has further boosted the export price of rare earths; the growth rate of export volume has been decreasing in the past two years, which is related to the increase in the amount of rare earth mining and the implementation of trade wars.
From January to October 2018, China’s rare earth export volume was 43,192 tons, down 3% compared with last year; the average price was 8273.5 US dollars / ton, an increase of 2.3% over the same period of last year, showing a clear trend of price reduction.
Figure 3 China’s rare earth export volume and average price chart in recent years