Customs statistics: In December 2018, China's total rare earth export volume was 5421.4 tons, an increase of 5.1% year-on-year and a growth of 17.6% year-on-year; the export amount was $44.6 million, a decline of 13.5% year-on-year and a decline of 0.6% year-on-year.

       Ruidao: In 2018, the total export volume of rare earth was 53223.5 tons, an annualized increase of 3.97%; the annual export volume was 519.8 million US dollars, an annualized increase of 25.2%; the annual average export price was 9766 US dollars/ton, an annualized increase of 20.4%.

       The three-year data changes show that China's export of rare earth has maintained a steady growth, but the growth rate has slowed down (export volume increased by 8.4% in 2017 and 3.97% in 2018). The total export volume and the average export price of rare earth increased rapidly, and the annual average price increased rapidly (14.5% in 2017 and 20.4% in 2018). The general trend of China's rare earth export is that the export tends to be stable while the average price is accelerating.

       At the same time, the data trend side confirms that China's rare earth exports are beginning to face foreign competition, the adjustment of domestic industrial structure is further deepened, and China's control of rare earth resources has achieved good results.

       First: In recent years, with the expansion of the production of foreign rare earth suppliers, the dominant position of China's rare earth supply has begun to weaken (e.g., the gradual expansion of MT Weld owned by Lynas in Australia, the Arafura-led Narrans project entering China, the re-production of Mountain Pass in the United States, etc.). However, China still contributes most of the rare earth resources to the world and continues to grow, which is by no means a falsehood made by foreign media. China intends to reduce the supply of rare earths.

       Second: China has continuously promoted the deep development of the domestic rare earth industry to the downstream and terminal areas. The utilization rate of rare earth raw materials has been continuously improved, and the proportion of the export of deep processing terminal products has increased. Domestic rare earth enterprises continue to optimize the industrial structure, improve the comprehensive value utilization of rare earth raw materials, raw materials export proportion contraction.

       Third: China's rare earth industry, through continuous integration, has formed a platform development model, to a certain extent, inhibited the vicious competition. In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and relevant departments have maintained a high-pressure situation for enterprises to verify and crack down on black rare earth, and the supply of gray and black rare earth is decreasing year by year.

       In 2018, China's export of rare earth again performed well. China's supply of rare earth is gradually getting rid of the label of "cheap" and "disorderly", and China's international position on rare earth will enter a healthier and more stable development channel.