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China's government eased its restrictions on rare-earth exports for the first time since 2005 in an apparent nod to a trade fight over Beijing's tight global grip on production of the strategically important minerals.

 

But industry executives said the move will do little to shake China's dominance of a market crucial to industries as diverse as oil refining, electric vehicles and ballistic missiles.

 

China's Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday that it will permit 2.7% more volume of rare earth this year—some 30,996 metric tons total—to leave the country than in 2011. The modest increase follows a number of sharply tighter limits since 2005 that led to major price surges beginning about two years ago, making some of the elements more valuable than gold.