(MT Newswires)

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-- Rare earth stocks like Molycorp (MCP) and Rare Element Resources (REE) could continue to see action as China moves to tighten its grip on a market it calls fragmented.

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State-owned Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Group Hi-Tech Co., China's largest rare-earths producer, said on Friday it acquired nine rare-earths mining companies from the government of China's Inner Mongolia region.

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The consolidation reinforces signals that China is

preparing to tighten global supply of the metals. In December, the Ministry of Commerce said it would trim an initial batch of its 2014 export quota for the first time in two years, though the final quota will be confirmed only in July, the WSJ reports.