China's imports of US rare earth ore surge in July

BEIJING/HOUSTON (Reuters) -The sharp jump in China's imports of rare earth ore from the United States in July was probably the final customs accounting of shipments from U.S. supplier MP Materials. Data on Wednesday from the General Administration of Customs showed imports of rare earths ore from the U.S. surged to 4,719 metric tons in July after falling to zero in June, sparking market speculation over the source of the shipments. MP Materials, which owns the only U.S. rare earth mine has long sent ore to China for its minority shareholder Shenghe Resources to process.