The Chinese government will be able to complete a major consolidation of the country's rare earth industry by the middle of this year, according to news website CRI.
Xin Guobin, China's vice-Minister of Industry and Information Technology, told a symposium that consolidation is already underway. ‘To deal with current problems in China's rare earth industry, we are consolidating and upgrading the industry in terms of production and mining procedures,’ he said. ‘So far, three firms have already formed rare-earth blocs, while another three are still working on it.’
According to Guobin, the Chinese government plans to complete this by the summer. ‘By the end of June, we must complete the consolidation of all rare earth mines and firms in China. While this happens, we will continue to work with the companies through our various ministries to support the newly-formed rare-earth blocs, especially those who finish their consolidation on time.’
According to CRI, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology expects there will be a reduction of rare earth smelting this year through improved output controls and increased competitiveness.
This story uses material from CRI, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
