When we talk about rare earths metals, we usually have to turn to China. But as China starts choking off supply, bulls are looking at rare earth exchange traded funds (ETFs) for a fix.
The Chinese has announced that rare earth exports will be lowered by 35% for the first half year-over-year and will probably impose greater limits for the rest of the year, reports Anil Das for The International Business Times.
For that one big reason reason, commodities guru Jim Rogers opines that rare earth metals are due for a rally, writes Forrest James for The Daily Crux. China’s influence in this market is huge: it controls more than 97% of the world’s supply of rare earths.
Rogers remarks that China’s actions will cause others to step in to bring in “new supply and eventually the price of rare earths will come down again. But in the meantime until the new mines can come on stream, somebody is going to make a lot of money” in the rare earths market.
Rare earths are used in new green technologies, military applications and other sophisticated technologies. The prices of rare earths have on average surged by 300% between January and August 2010. While China currently produces 97% of the world’s supply of rare earths, the country only holds less than a third of global reserves, but other countries are not in a position to mine as much as China.
For more information on rare earths, visit our rare earth metals category.
Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals (NYSEArca: REMX): You can’t get direct physical exposure to rare earth metals in this ETF (or any ETF, for that matter). What you do get in REMX is exposure to the world’s miners and producers of such metals. Australia is the top country in the fund, with 23.9% of the weighting. Canada has a 19.8% weight and the United States accounts for 18.8%.
Max Chen contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.