China's rare earth exports jump in November after Xi-Trump meeting

[BEIJING] China’s rare earth exports jumped in November, the first full month since President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump agreed to speed up shipment of the critical minerals from the world’s largest refiner.

Exports in November jumped for a second consecutive month, by 26.5 per cent from October to 5,493.9 metric tons, showed figures from the General Administration of Customs of China.

Whether increased shipments to the US or Europe powered that jump will only be revealed when the customs office releases a country breakdown on Dec 20.

Export controls over the 17 minerals used in areas as varied as autos, consumer electronics and defence have caused months of disruption since their April introduction.

A requirement for licences for each export has created shortages that brought parts of the auto supply chain to a halt and handed China enormous leverage in trade talks with the US.

Reuters reported last week that China issued its first “general licences” – year-long permits aimed at speeding up exports following the Xi-Trump meeting. Those licences are likely to start impacting trade data next year.

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Year-to-date, rare earth exports totalled 58,193.1 tons, an annual increase of 11.6 per cent. REUTERS