8 Top Rare Earth-producing Countries
While China may have a stranglehold on the rare earths market, it's not the only country responsible for production.
2016 was not an easy year for the rare earths sector. Prices were hit hard due to excess supply, and some rare earths companies working outside of China continued to have problems.
Case in point: rare earths were not mined in the US at all last year. Molycorp (OTCMKTS:MCPIQ), once North America’s only producer of rare earths, filed for bankruptcy in 2015, and was put on care and maintenance later that year.
But while the US missed out on rare earths production in 2016, other countries did not meet the same fate. Seven countries aside from China produced rare earths last year, according to the most recent data from the the US Geological Survey (USGS), and many believe demand for the metals is set to rise. In fact, the rare earths market is expected to be valued at $9 billion by 2020.
With that in mind, it’s worth being aware of which countries produce the most rare earths. Here’s a look at the eight countries that produced the most rare earths in 2016, as per numbers from the USGS.
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