It is not excluded that the Chinese monopoly on rare earth elements will be destroyed. The cost to them will increase, which will lead to an increase in the number of projects they develop. Such changes will affect different regions of the world, affecting the position of China in the market of rare earth elements. The last time China held the position of leaders in the supply of many rare earth metals europium, terbium, neodymium, yttrium. They are mainly involved in the production of strong permanent magnets. The main fields of application are mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. The low cost of these metals has contributed to the closure of many competing projects in the West. And new projects of the company start was not solved. However, today the situation has changed.

For a start, the Chinese authorities have substantially reduced the volume of illegal mining. Basically, the manufacturers of these products were combined into groups under state control. As reported by Adamas Intelligence, excess concentrates are stored in warehouses of China has decreased, reaching the level of 2011. However, the consumption of the same neodymium or praseodymium in China this year may increase by 10% relative to 2016. And the rate of increase will be maintained, given the demand from manufacturers of robots, electric cars, electric cars. Some engineering companies have already signed long-term agreements with suppliers of rare earth products. This reduced the volume of offers received on the spot market.

In the end, the cost of the most important rare earth metals since the beginning of this year increased by 50 and more percent. One can hardly expect them to decrease in the near future. Accordingly, the previously unattractive projects in this sector can regain profitability.