Reuters reported that Aluminum Corporation of China has taken 45% majority stake in a rare earth JV in Jiangsu province, boosting such assets, which is part the firm's strategic development plan.
Mr Yuan Li spokesman of Chinalco said that a company spokesman said that Chinalco which is China's top aluminum producer and the parent of Hong Kong and Shanghai listed Chalco has no immediate plans to inject the rare earth assets into the listed aluminum arm. For now, we don't have such a plan. But developing rare earth is part of Chinalco's strategic development plan.
Mr Yuan said that he was not completely aware whether or not Chinalco would consider a plan to inject rare earth assets into the listed arm in the future. Chinalco's rare earth arm and 6 Jiangsu based firms jointly set up Chinalco Rare Earth Company which has 30,000 tonnes per year of smelting capacity in the eastern province.
He said that the 6 local firms, which include 5 smelting plants and 1 trading firm, own the remaining 55% in the venture, making Chinalco the largest single shareholder in the Jiangsu Company.
Shares of Chalco in Shanghai and Hong Kong rose after local Chinese media reported the formation of the Jiangsu rare earth venture, as investors hoped Chinalco may consider injecting the assets into the listed arm. Chinalco already holds 34,700 tonnes per year of rare earth smelting capacity and has rare earth mining and smelting JV in Jiangxi, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces in the south.
China's efforts to streamline its chaotic rare earth sector have sparked concerns internationally about Beijing developing a chokehold over a vital group of metals used in industries like defence and renewable energy, boosting prices. It controls more than 90% of global supplies and it has already slashed export quotas and imposed a cap on production. It has also vowed to crack down on the smuggling of rare earth elements
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