China will increase the resource tax on rare earth exports next month to a level 10 times higher than current standard, Shanghai Securities News reported Friday.

The plan, jointly announced by the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation, proscribed that the resource tax on light rare earths, including bastnaesite and monazite, will be lifted to 60 yuan ($9.1) a ton. The tax on mid-heavy rare earth products will be increased to 30 yuan a ton, while the current taxation only levies 0.5-3 yuan per ton or cubic meter, the report said.

Analysts believe the tax hike indicates that the government is tightening its control on rare earth resources, and the price for this scarce metal is likely to continue to rise, the report said.

Data shows that the average price for rare earth is currently $44,361 per ton, almost twice last year's price, it reported, without giving the source of the information.

The Ministry of Finance increased the export tariff on some rare earth products in 2011, but the effects were limited, the report said.

Related readings:  The plight of China's rare earth mining  China to impose rare earth tax from April 1  Rare earth prices are out of this world  2nd batch of rare earth export quotas to be announced in 2011

At the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference meetings held in March, some members proposed to lift the resource tax rate on rare earths in order to increase the market price. The government hopes that the price hike will put a stop to smuggling and other countries' hoarding activates, the report said.

The central government implemented its first mandatory resource planning on rare earths in 2007, and the export quota was brought down year by year, according to the newspaper.

China's rare earth resource reserve has decreased to 27 million tons, making up 30 percent of the global total. The nation's middleweight and heavy rare earth reserves are likely to be exhausted in the next 15 to 20 years, based on the current production rate, the report said.