Higher Japan Rare Earth Import Price

Japanese import price of rare earth keeps increasing when the demand increases for magnet of hard disc drive and automobile and the largest producing country of China reduces the export. The averaged import price increased to CIF 2,115 yen per kilogram in October, which was double of October 2005.The averaged import price increased by 25% to 1,105 yen per kg in 2005 from 2004, according to Ministry of Finance. The price increased to 2,115 yen in October, 2,095 yen in September and 1,889 yen in August compared with 1,222 yen in April.China represents 95% of estimated world rare earth output of just more than 100,000 tonnes per year. However, the country tries to secure the resource for domestic use by reducing export along with rare metals including antimony and tungsten. China terminated the tax return for rare earth export in May 2005 and added 10% tariff for the export in November 2006.The higher demand also lifts the price. The rare earth magnet output increased by 20% to 6.72 billion yen in September from a year earlier, according to Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association. The output increased for 11 months in a row.