Reuters reported that minor metals are rising steeply as China shows no let up in a crack down on illegal mining adding to the strain of export restrictions on rare earths.

Traders said that China produces 97% of global rare earths and minor metals used in smartphones, electric car motors and high tech industrial equipment. It has slashed export quotas by around 35% for the H1 of this year and more cuts are expected, alarming buyers and angering trading partners.

At the same time, Beijing has launched a campaign against the illegal extraction, smelting and trading of rare earths, saying unregulated mining was damaging its environment.

One UK based trader said that China is closing the mines and cancelling licences. Prices keep on rising and customers are desperate. The price of antimony used in fire retardants and increasingly in micro electronics has risen around a quarter since November last year to a record USD 15,000 per tonne to USD 15,700 tonnes per tonne this week.

Another trader said of antimony's steep rise that the reasons haven't changed. It's to do with all those smelters that have been shut down for environmental reasons. China's exports of rare earth elements fell by almost one tenth last year but the overall value rocketed as the quota cuts lifted international prices.

A Europe based trader who deals in indium and germanium said that the Chinese hold all the cards and they are playing a strategic game of wait and see by refusing to offer material to the free market. Both remain tight.

(Sourced from Reuters)