Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Co, China's largest rare earths producer, achieved a net profit of 120 million yuan ($19 million) in the third quarter, down 89.6 percent from the same time last year, according to a company report.

The report showed that the company's operating income from July to September dropped 52.2 percent from last year to 1.97 billion yuan.

The company attributed the declining performance to a sharp decrease in prices and sales of rare earths products.

The company's operating cost in the third quarter doubled from the same time last year. The company said that product sales in the third quarter were mainly of high-cost heavy rare earths and magnetic materials, while last year it was mostly low-cost light rare earths products.

For the first nine months of 2012, the company achieved a net profit of 1.69 billion yuan.

The company's net profit more than tripled year-on-year in the third quarter of 2010, at a time when rare earths prices were surging.