(Yicai Global) March 27 -- China Northern Rare Earth Group retained its leading position after the Chinese government recently issued the first batch of rare earth quotas for this year.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced on March 24 that the total quota for rare earth mining in the first batch this year is 120,000 tons, with the total for smelting and separation set at 115,000 tons.

Yicai Global compared the first batch of indicators last year and found that this year’s first quota jumped 19 percent compared with last year, and the smelting and separation limit climbed 18.3 percent.

This year’s production quota still focuses on four major rare earth firms, namely China Northern Rare Earth Group, China Rare Earth Group, Xiamen Tungsten and Guangdong Rare Earths Industry Group.

Of the four, China Northern Rare Earth Group secured the largest share and was also the only company to get an increase in the quota from last year. In total, the company received a mining quota of 80,900 tons, an increase of 34.4 percent from last year, and a quota 73,400 tons for smelting and separation, up 36.5 percent from a year earlier.

China Northern Rare Earth Group mainly focusses on light rare earth products, and its parent company Baotou Iron and Steel Group owns the exclusive mining rights to Bayan Obo, the world’s largest rare earth mine. The new energy industry has become the main consumer of light rare earth products in China.

China Rare Earth Group received the second largest quota, at 35,500 tons, with a limit of 33,300 tons for smelting and separation. Compared with the two giants, Xiamen Tungsten and Guangdong Rare Earths Industry Group, ranking third and the fourth respectively, received relatively small amounts of the quota.

The price of rare earths has fluctuated a lot recently. According to data from the China Rare Earth Industry Association, from March 1 to 15 the price of dysprosium oxide, the main heavy rare earth product, fell 6.73 percent, while that of praseodymium oxide neodymium tumbled 16.97 percent.

A China Northern Rare Earth Group executive told investors on March 20 that the market in the second half of last year and in January and February this year saw “demand pick up slowly, but consumption was weak.”

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issues a production quota for rare earths every half year.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Tom Litting