China's exports of vital rare earth elements used for numerous high-tech goods slipped almost one-tenth last year but the overall value rocketed as quota cuts lifted international prices, data showed on Wednesday. China, which produces about 97 percent of the global supply of the minerals, cut export quotas for the minerals by 40 percent last year, a move that alarmed buyers and trading partners.
It has cut export quotas for the first half of 2011 by 35 percent from the first half of last year, although total quotas for this year have not yet been announced. China says the quota cuts will prevent reckless and polluting mining of deposits. China's moves have raised heckles in major trading partners such as the United States, European Union and Japan. The US Trade Representative office threatened last month to take China to the World Trade Organisation about its export restraints.
China exported 4,738 tonnes of rare earth metals, ores and compounds in December, more than twice as much as in November, bringing its full-year export volume to 39,813 tonnes, according to data by China Customs Statistics (CCS) Information Centre, Hong Kong, an authorised supplier of Chinese customs figures. The export figures were well above the 2010 quota of 30,258 tonnes.