As part of the plan China will also optimise the annual quota mechanism for the production of rare earth, tungsten and other minerals.
Info comes via the South China Morning Post, link here for more (may be gated). The piece opens with:
- China will encourage domestic exploration of iron ore and use more scrap metals to reduce reliance on imports from countries like Australia, while streamlining production quotas for rare earth and tungsten
And goes on:
- “Such issues, like inadequate safeguards for key strategic resources, need to be resolved urgently.”
Iron Ore is Australia's #1 export and a reduction in demand from Australia's biggest customer, China, does not auger well at the margin. A multi-year view of AUD/USD:
