China is doubling down on its promise to maintain its foothold in rare earths, setting the first batch of its rare earth mining output quota for 2022 at 100,800 tonnes, up 20% year-on-year.

According to a Reuters report, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the Ministry of Natural Resources said jointly that it also set its rare earth smelting and separation quota at 97,200 t.

That, too, is a 20% increase over the same time in 2021.

A newly established company, the China Rare Earth Group conglomerate, accounted for 36,906 tons and 34,680 tons of the mining and smelting quotas, according to the Global Times.

The agencies, Reuters said, will be shared among the country’s four main producers.

“The 20% jump was mainly due to China's surging demand for neodymium magnets, also known as Nd-FeB magnets, amid the new energy push in the country," Wu Chenhui, an independent industrial analyst, told the Global Times.

Sources: Reuters and Global Times