China boosted its mining and refining activity for a category of metals that includes rare earth minerals by 14% year over year through the first three quarters.
Non-ferrous metal mining and dressing activity and non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling activity for the year through September grew by 14.2% and 14.6%, respectively, over the same period last year, according to data released Monday morning by China’s National Bureau of Statistics.
China classifies rare earths as non-ferrous metals, or those that don’t contain iron. The data does not indicate what share of the activity gains were attributed to rare earths alone.
The healthy increase in activity is one more sign that Beijing has been investing in its rare earth dominance. The world’s second-largest economy controls roughly 70% of rare earth mining, 90% of separation and processing, and 93% of magnet manufacturing.
Investors are paying particularly close attention to the materials this week as President Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping prepare to sit down on Thursday in South Korea to hash out policy on several topics, including rare earths.
Tensions between the two countries have been heightened since the beginning of the month, when Beijing announced strict export controls on materials containing even trace amounts of rare earths.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that he expects China will revive its purchases of US soybeans (^SPGSSOP), which Beijing had halted earlier in the year, and delay implementation of its rare-earth export licensing requirements by a year.
“I believe we’ve reached a very substantial framework that will avoid [a tariff hike] and allow us to discuss that and many other things with the Chinese,” Bessent said Sunday morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Rare earth stocks, including MP Materials (MP), USA Rare Earth (USAR), and NioCorp Developments (NB), all fell Monday morning on news of positive developments in the US-China trade negotiations.
