China”s rare earth stocks
bucked the downward trend of the broader markets on Tuesday after
regulators gave the green light to the first batch of companies under
the new rare earth industry entry requirements.

The seven qualified
companies included a subsidiary of Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel
Rare-earth Hi-tech Co. (REHT), China”s largest rare earth producer,
according to a brief notice released by the Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology late Monday.

Some key names in the sector
posted modest gains in the morning session. REHT”s share price climbed
0.51 percent to end the morning session at 33.56 yuan (5.33 U.S.
dollars). Rising Non-ferrous Metals Share Co. added 1.92 percent to 43
yuan.

The sector has been weighed down this year, as rare earth
prices fell from dizzying heights due to weakening demand amid sluggish
global growth and new rare earth production coming online.

To shore
up prices, many Chinese producers, including REHT, have announced
production halts. Such moves have helped to boost prices of major rare
earth products by as much as 20 percent from their lowest levels this
month, according to baiinfo.com, a domestic industry information
provider.

As the world”s largest rare earth producer, China supplies
more than 90 percent of global demand for the minerals, which are
crucial in the production of a range of hi-tech commodities such as wind
turbines, hybrid car batteries and smart phones.

China has announced
various measures to control environmental damage during the mining and
processing of the minerals, including new industry entry requirements,
stricter emission standards, production caps and export quotas.

The
new entry requirements for the rare earth industry, released in August,
listed a series of rules for project set-up and layout, production
scale, energy consumption and environmental protection.