The price of rare earth metals fell this week, a change from an earlier price boom, National Business Daily reported Thursday.
"Prices fell recently for some rare earth metals and the largest drop was more than 10,000 yuan ($1,500) a ton", the newspaper reported citing an unnamed source in the rare earth business in East China's Jiangxi province.
The rare earth market saw fewer deals than earlier and a wait-and-see attitude is popular now, the newspaper quoted analysts as saying.
"The overall prices of rare earths were relatively stable this week, while the price of several metals rose," said Song Zhichao, a rare earth analyst at Toocle.cn, a website reporting on commodity trading prices.
But according to Song this may change soon.
"Many exporters will shift their resources to the domestic market due to reduced export quotas. The domestic market will have more supplies, which will make the prices fluctuate or even decline," said Song.
China's Ministry of Commerce on Nov 11 began accepting Chinese companies' applications for 2011 rare earth export quotas.
The prices of rare earth metals surged earlier when the regulator considered restrictions on rare earth exploitation. Neodymium prices surged to $92 per kilogram on Oct 19 from $41 per kilogram on April 20.
Rare earths are 17 chemical elements used in the production of flat-screen monitors, electric-car batteries, wind turbines, missiles and aerospace alloys.
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