Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-earth Hi-tech Co Ltd a leading Chinese rare earth producer, has failed to make a satisfactory performance in the reshuffle of the rare earth industry in Inner Mongolia, north China.

About a year ago, 35 rare earth companies in the northern Chinese region were expected to be merged or weeded out. But now, the task has not been completed yet.

Recently, a meeting was held by the economic and informatization commission of Inner Mongolia. The reshuffle scheme has been revised but the revised scheme has not been made public.

An insider disclosed that some of the 35 companies would not be weeded out as earlier expected, and instead, they would be merged by Baogang Group, parent of Baotou Steel Rare earth.

It means that Baogang Group will pay more for the task because more rare earth smelting companies are to be merged, pointed out experts.

Particularly, Baotou Steel Rare earth has not enjoyed the first batch of export quotas of rare earth and coke lately announced for 2012.

On December 15, 2011, China's Ministry of Commerce issued a list of 32 companies applying for 2012 quotas for rare earth and coke rare earth. Only 11 companies have gotten access to the first batch of the export quotas. The result was reported to be influenced by the examination and supervision launched by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

In 2010, Baotou Steel Rare earth, based in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, completed the construction of six rare earth depots, designed for the storage of rare earth raw material and rare earth products. The smallest of them can hold 5,000 to 6,000 tons.

Inner Mongolia and Baotou, a fast growing city in the northern Chinese region, as well as Baogang Group, all aided the Shanghai listed company in the construction of 10 rare earth oxide storage devices with a total capacity of over 200,000 tonnes.

(Sourced from SinoCast Daily)