BEIJING - China Northern Rare Earth (Group) High-tech Co, Ltd, the country's largest rare earth miner and producer, expected its net profits to plunge in 2016 as demand sagged, prices faltered while production costs rose.

Net profits may plunge by up to 90 percent from a year earlier to 325.72 million yuan ($47.21 million) in 2016, the company said Saturday in a report filed to Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Earnings per share would be 0.09 yuan, unchanged compared with that in 2015.

The company attributed the profit decline to higher production costs and falling prices of rare earth products amid weak demand. Unfair competition exacerbated the situation, it said.

Share prices of the company fell 1.15 percent to 12.07 yuan on Friday.

As the world's largest supplier of the minerals, China's exports rose 34.2 percent year on year in 2016 in terms of volume, but export value declined 2.7 percent during the period, according to customs data.