Australia's Control of Iron Ore

The rare earth in China, like iron ore in Australia, why is it so difficult for China to seize the right to speak, and Australian iron ore can increase the price if it wants to increase prices?

Clear division of government management

Australia is rich in iron ore reserves and ranks third in the world, but these resources are not owned by the federal government but are owned by the states.

The management of the mining industry in Australia is divided into two levels. The federal government is responsible for formulating various national policies, signing and implementing relevant international agreements, approving exploration and development licenses for mineral resources in the three seas and beyond, and managing the export rights of mineral resources. Although the federal government's management of iron ore does not seem to be very effective, it is very effective.

The state/territory government is responsible for the daily management of exploration, development, and environmental protection of mineral resources within the territory (including the sea within three nautical miles from the shoreline), and the approval and supervision of infrastructure construction and environmental impact assessment related to exploration and development. .

This kind of mining government administration in Australia is the most worthy of China’s reference. It is to clarify the division of labor, perform their duties, and have transparent information.

The management of rare earths in China is managed by different departments at different stages of the industrial chain. The Ministry of Land and Resources administers mining, and production, smelting and separation are managed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Environmental protection is the management of the environmental protection department and exports are managed by the Ministry of Commerce. In addition, customs is also responsible for some specific businesses. Because the entire industry chain of rare earths is long, there are as many as 15 government departments responsible for management, and the convergence is not smooth. There are large loopholes in the management. This is also a major factor in the aphasia of the discourse power of China's rare earths. In the middle of this year, China has just set up an inter-ministerial coordination group for the rare earth industry, and has resumed the establishment of a national rare earth office to coordinate its work.

Pay attention to ecological protection

In the 1970s, Australia began to implement the land reclamation system. The federal government put mine reclamation on the government's important agenda and formulated detailed national and state reclamation technical standards and requirements. In addition to relevant laws and regulations, Australia also implements a system of reclamation deposits, and the amount of deposits must be sufficient to ensure the rehabilitation of the land. However, its biggest feature is that the proportion of mortgage payments made on reclamation is determined based on the effect of reclamation. Companies that do the best on reclamation work only need to pay a 25% margin for reclamation, while other companies must pay 100%. Nowadays, land reclamation has become the conscious behavior of Australian mining companies under legal requirements, government supervision and public supervision.

In the past two years, in the development of rare earths in China, various provinces and municipalities have formulated local laws and regulations for land reclamation deposits in accordance with the actual conditions in the local area, and carried out the collection of land reclamation deposits in mining areas. This action has achieved certain implementation results, but there are still many imperfections in practice, mainly in the lack of incentives for mining companies, and the legal responsibilities of relevant subjects are not clear. This has, to some extent, increased the difficulty in the restoration and rehabilitation of the ecological environment in rare earth mining areas.

Respect the market, advance and retreat

Although iron ore prices have been rising year after year, mills have complained every year. However, since the entire negotiations are purely commercial activities among companies, and the bargaining mechanism is transparent and open, the price increase has never caused excessive international disputes. In Australia, government agencies do not participate in any commercial exploration and development activities of mineral resources.

For rare earths, China has adopted more administrative means to set production and export quotas. In the international rare earth game, it is basically the government's voice that represents negotiations. Not only are the game tricks limited, but they are also easily seized by trading partners, accused of price manipulation and market manipulation, and violations of WTO principles. There is nothing wrong with China’s request for price increases. However, how to use price increases will not only safeguard their own interests but also comply with international rules of the game, and will prevent trade partners from grasping the handle. May wish to consider how to cultivate large-scale rare earth enterprises with international influence. , Let the company come to the rescue.