Reuters reported that China's Baotou Steel Rare Earth Hi Tech will join six other firms to invest a total of CNY 70 million to start a rare earths trading platform in early August.

Baotou Rare Earth said that each shareholder will invest CNY 10 million and hold around 14.29% stake in the company. The exchange will help to establish a unified physical trading platform allowing more transparency in prices.

China is the world's top rare earth producer and accounts for more than 95 percent of the global output. The exchange will help the country exert more control over the pricing of 17 strategically important rare earth metals on the global market.

Currently, prices in China are published by several independent consultancies and most of the metals have fallen over the past few months due to weaker demand. The exchange will be located in Baotou city in China's Inner Mongolia region, home to nearly half of the world's light rare earths production.

Source - Reuters

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