SEOUL - South Korea's rare earth imports from China jumped 22.4 percent last month due to a fall in import prices, customs data showed Thursday.

South Korea purchased a total of 154 tons of rare earth material from China in July, up 22.4 percent from a month earlier, according to the Korea Customs Service (KCS).

In terms of value, rare earth import from China grew 9 percent on-month to $4.17 million in July, indicating that falling import prices contributed to slower growth in import value than import volume.

Rare earth materials, including scandium and yttrium, are key components for modern-day technologies such as hybrid electric vehicles, liquid crystal display (LCD) and other high-tech products.

Rare earth imports from Japan declined 13.2 percent on-month to 50 tons last month, while import from France jumped 32 percent to 7 tons over the cited period.

Meanwhile, magnesium imports from China expanded 17.1 percent on-month to 1,058 tons in July, with inbound shipments of tungsten from the world's No 2 economy surging 32.3 percent to 47 tons. Cobalt imports from China climbed 17.7 percent to 513 tons over the cited period.