China rare earth firms' shares soar as prices hit record highs

China Rare Earth Holdings

16/02/2022 03:45

** Shares in Chinese rare earth companies jump on Wednesday,
as prices of the commodity rise to record highs on robust demand
    ** CSI Rare Earth index  .CSI930598  leads gains among
A-share sectors, rising as much as 3.25% in morning session
    ** Sector is down 9.1% this year after surging nearly 71% in
2021
    ** China Northern Rare Earth  600111.SS  adds 4.65% and
China Rare Earth Holdings  0769.HK  rises 1.18%
    ** Rare earth price index published by the Association of
China Rare Earth Industry touched a record high of 426.7512 on
Tuesday
    ** Prices of neodymium  SMM-REO-NXO  and praseodymium
 SMM-REO-PXO  (NdPr), widely used to make magnets that power
electric vehicles, have more than tripled over the past 14
months as companies and governments step up efforts to meet
climate targets
    ** Chinese authorities met with automakers and battery
companies in late January to discuss surging prices of rare
earths  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2U730B
    ** CSI Automobiles index  .CSI93060  rises 2.15% and New
Energy Vehicle index  .CSI399976  adds 0.88%
    ** CSI300  .CSI300  gains 0.65% and Shanghai Composite Index
 .SSEC  is up 0.69% at midday break

 (Reporting by Andrew Galbraith)
 ((Andrew.Galbraith@tr.com))