Chinese exporters see red/Export finance block threatens China's minerals trade future

摘要

Mineral traders and -buyers of Chinese mineral exports are a hardy bunch, possessing creative and tenacious skills with which to maintain and survive their business. And they've had to. The last few years have seen them face a series of government imposed measures: the ever changing export licence system since 1994 (licence availability and quotas further reduced, creating an intense black market trading licences at up to 40 dollars/tonne), various provincially imposed mineral resource taxes (most recently 6.60 dollars/tonne bauxite in Shanxi), the systematic stripping of export VAT rebates from 2005 to 2007, and on 1 July 2007 the introduction of 5 percent-15 percent export taxes. Since mid-2006, Beijing has made no secret of its policy of reigning in exports and taking steps to conserve its mineral resources to feed its expanding domestic markets.