China to speed launch of rare earth futures contracts, Shanghai exchange says

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will accelerate the launch of futures contracts for rare earths, used in devices such as mobile telephones and batteries, an official of the Shanghai Futures Exchange said on Friday. The exchange will also hasten its launch of alumina futures, Chen Ye, the head of its commodity department, told an industry conference, without saying which rare earth contract would be launched, or when. China is the world's largest processor and producer of rare earths, a group of 17..