Dines’ Rare Earth Revolution rolls on

[Letsbereal]

Dines’ Rare Earth Revolution rolls on - Newsletter editor may have made a convert
23 September 2010, by Peter Brimelow (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dines-rare-earth-revolution-rolls-on-2010-09-23

Excerpt:

His current issue contains a typical Dines dirge:

“Most Americans don’t even know how to spell Rare Earths yet, especially our neuron-apoptotic [I had to look it up too, it means programmed cell death] leaders.

Rare Earth metals are essential in building Predator missiles, night-vision goggles, every cellphone has them, you can’t build a Prius hybrid car without Rare Earths and you need 700 pounds of neodymium to build each 3-megawatt windmill.

The Dines Letter blew the whistle on the fact that China controlled around 97% of the world’s Rare Earth production, a virtual monopoly, and that a crisis was coming. Did our warning make a dent? No.”

Actually, Dines’ warning does seem to have made a dent on Mark Skousen, the almost equally egotistical editor of Forecasts & Strategies. He has just seconded one TDL recommendation, gracefully acknowledging Dines’ precedence.

Skousen writes:

“I haven’t recommended any “rare-earth” stocks because they all traded in Canada -- until now. Rare Element Resources Ltd. /quotes/comstock/14*!ree/quotes/nls/ree (REE 5.83, -0.11, -1.85%)   started trading on the AMEX in August, and is worth buying. Rare Element Resources is a developing play in gold and rare-earth elements at the Bear Lodge property in northeast Wyoming, but it has no revenues yet. Given the high costs associated with mining rare-earth elements, analysts estimate that REE won’t be profitable until 2015. But the net present value is positive and, last month, REE reported extremely positive results after drilling 13 holes at its Bear Lodge property, showing “robust grades” of rare-earth elements.

“This is clearly a speculation, but one worth pursuing.”

[Letsbereal]

China halts ‘rare earth’ shipments to Japan: NYT
23 September 2010, (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-halts-rare-earth-shipments-to-japan-nyt-2010-09-23-221310

Excerpt:

China has halted shipments of “rare earth” minerals to Japan, the New York Times reported Thursday, citing unidentified industry officials.

The reported move came after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Wednesday threatened retaliatory action against Japan which is holding the captain of a Chinese fishing trawler. The trawler captain was detained by Japanese maritime authorities after fishing in waters controlled by Japan, but claimed by China and Taiwan.

Executives in the rare earths industry were told the initial ban will last through the end of the month, and that the Chinese government will assess on whether to renew the ban if the captain of the trawler has not been released, the report said.

[citizenx]

Now this is big.

[citizenx]

Amid Tension, Japan Is Releasing Chinese Captain
By MARTIN FACKLER and IAN JOHNSON
Published: September 24, 2010

 
TOKYO — Japanese authorities said on Friday that they will release the captain of a Chinese trawler whose arrest two weeks ago near islands claimed by China and Japan had caused growing tensions between the two Asian powers.

Related
China Arrests Four Japanese Amid Tensions (September 24, 2010)
China Takes a Sharper Tone in Dispute With Japan (September 23, 2010)

Japanese prosecutors said they decided not to press charges against the captain, identified as Zhan Qixiong, 41, who was detained on Sept. 8 after his boat collided with Japanese Coast Guard vessels that were pursuing him near the disputed islands in the East China Sea.

The arrest had sent Japan’s ties with China to their lowest point in years. China reacted angrily to the arrest by cutting off ministerial-level talks, with Premier Wen Jiabao threatening further unspecified actions if he was not released.

for the rest of the story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/25/world/asia/25chinajapan.html?_r=1&hp
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Looks like it worked.

Hey, look at this note I found floating in a bottle here in Korea:

"Japan,

 Who's your daddy?

                        China"

[citizenx]

And just when you thought this thing was over, the tables are turned.
Four Japanese citizens detained in China as dispute escalates
China is investigating four Japanese citizens over claims that they "illegally" filmed sensitive military installations while on a business trip, in an apparent escalation of the growing two-week diplomatic row between Asia's two largest economies.
 
By Peter Foster in Beijing
Published: 4:25AM BST 24 Sep 2010



In a short report, Xinhua, the state-run news agency said: "Four Japanese are being investigated for having entered a military zone without authorisation and illegally videotaped military targets in northern Heibei province."

 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8021997/Four-Japanese-citizens-detained-in-China-as-dispute-escalates.html

[citizenx]

This rift between China and Japan just keeps going on:

Japan rejects apology on China boat row
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 25, 2010 -- Updated 1534 GMT (2334 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Statement asserts Japanese jurisdiction over disputed islands
Japan says China's call for an apology is 'groundless'
Detention of Chinese captain sparked bitter row between China and Japan

RELATED TOPICS
China
Wen Jiabao

Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says relations with China are "extremely important," but Beijing's demand for an apology and compensation over the detention of a Chinese fishing boat captain is "completely groundless and is utterly unacceptable for Japan."

The statement Saturday went on to assert Japanese jurisdiction over the islands where the captain was detained and declared that the dispute was handled in accordance with Japanese law.

Zhan Qixiong was detained earlier this month after his trawler collided with Japanese vessels near disputed islands in the East China Sea. He was freed on Friday.

for the rest of the story:


http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/09/25/china.japan.apology/index.html?hpt=T1


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now China wants an apology and compensation, and still apparently has Japanese prisoners (hostages?).  Of course, Japan refuses.  This is becoming a serious division with the potential to upset a lot of relations here in Asia.

That it has set a precedence in terms of China's semi-official restriction of trade in rare earths is still potentially very big news here as well, IMO.

[citizenx]

China Lifts Rare Earth Export Ban to Japan: Trader
By REUTERS
Published: September 28, 2010

Filed at 10:32 p.m. ET

 TOKYO (Reuters) - China has ended a de facto ban on exports to Japan of rare earth minerals, a Japanese trading firm source said on Wednesday, easing concerns about fallout from a bitter feud between Asia's two biggest economies.

Tokyo and Beijing have been bickering over Japan's detention of a Chinese fishing boat skipper whose trawler collided this month with two Japan Coast Guard ships near uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that both sides claim.

Japan released the skipper on Saturday but a war of words has continued as each side insists the other is to blame.

for the entire article:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/09/28/world/international-us-japan-china-export.html?hp

[Brocke]

The rare earth elements are something you don't see reported much in the MSM.

I remember reading an article a few years ago about Diane Fossey and how she was actually murdered for maps that she produced for the World Wildlife Fund and refused to hand over when she found out they were going to be used to set up mining operations in gorilla habitat. There are evidently deposits of Metallic Tantalum (Coltan) in the Congo and Diane Fossey was being used by the mining companies through the WWF to map the area.

Coltan is the industrial name for columbite–tantalite, a dull black metallic ore from which the elements niobium (formerly "columbium") and tantalum  are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral is columbite, hence the "col" half of the term. The mineral concentrates dominated by tantalum are referred to as tantalite.

Tantalum from coltan is used to manufacture electronic capacitors, used in consumer electronics products such as cell phones, DVD players, video game systems and computers. Export of coltan from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to European and American markets has been cited by experts as helping to finance the present-day conflict in the Congo, with the DanChurchAid agency asserting that “much of the finance sustaining the civil wars in Africa, especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is directly connected to coltan profits.” An estimated 6.9 million people have died since 1998 in the war in the Congo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coltan

[citizenx]

Unobtanium?

Tantalus -- Tantalum?

[citizenx]

China Reportedly Releases 3 Japanese
By ANDREW JACOBS
Published: September 29, 2010

BEIJING — Chinese authorities have released three Japanese citizens who were accused last week of videotaping at a military installation in northern China, state media reported on Thursday.

Although one of the detained men remains in custody, the releases are likely to be construed as a gesture by China to reduce tensions that have been mounting since Sept. 7, when a collision between a Chinese fishing trawler and Japanese coast guard vessels in disputed waters prompted an ugly diplomatic row between the two countries.

In announcing the releases, the official news service, Xinhua, said the three men had admitted that they had violated Chinese law and “showed regret for their mistake.”

for the entire article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/world/asia/01chinajapan.html?hp
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe, this rift between China and Japan really is calming down, though there is one more prisoner in China and they are still supposedly demanding an aplogy and compensation.

Coupled with yesterady's news that the semi-official ban on the export of some rare earths would be lifted this is good news -- even as the stupid currency wars rage on in the U.S House and there are stillprospects for a completely political and needless trade war.

[Letsbereal]

Pentagon Loses Control of Bombs to China Metal Monopoly
30 September 2010, by Peter Robison and Gopal Ratnam (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-29/pentagon-losing-control-of-afghanistan-bombs-to-china-s-neodymium-monopoly.html

Excerpt:

A generation after Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping made mastering neodymium and 16 other elements known as rare earths a priority, China dominates the market, with far-reaching effects ranging from global trade friction to U.S. job losses and threats to national security.

The U.S. handed its main economic rival power to dictate access to these building blocks of modern weapons by ceding control of prices and supply, according to dozens of interviews with industry executives, congressional leaders and policy experts. China in July reduced rare-earth export quotas for the rest of the year by 72%, sending prices up more than sixfold for some elements.

Military officials are only now conducting an inventory of where and how U.S. suppliers use the obscure but essential substances -- including those that silence the whoosh of Boeing Co. helicopter blades, direct Raytheon Co. missiles and target guns in General Dynamics Corp. tanks.

----

China produced 120,000 tons, or 97%, of the world’s 124,000-ton supply last year, according to the GAO. Half of that came from Baotou, said Kingsnorth. The raw elements have many applications. Neodymium is used by Chinese companies including magnet makers, who sell to U.S. suppliers of defense contractors.

[agentbluescreen]

U.S. Military's Chinese Supply of Rare Earth Elements Not Secure
http://www.livescience.com/technology/rare-earth-elements-supply-chain-100414.html

Excerpt:

U.S. military technologies such as guided bombs and night vision rely heavily upon rare earth elements supplied by China, and rebuilding an independent U.S. supply chain to wean the country off that foreign dependency could take up to 15 years, according to a new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Both "light" and "heavy" rare earth elements represent a family of minerals found in commercial products ranging from TV displays to cell phones, as well as green technologies such as hybrid electric motors and wind turbines. For example, the rare earth element neodymium is very magnetic and is used in everything from computer hard drives to wind turbines and Toyota's Prius hybrid car.
The GAO report – a draft of which was obtained by TechNewsDaily – was meant to look at national security risks that could arise from dependency upon rare earth elements.

"Defense systems will likely continue to depend on rare earth materials, based on their life cycles and lack of effective substitutes," the GAO reported.

New rare earth mines in the U.S., Australia, Canada and South Africa won't start up until at least 2014, based on industry estimates. The GAO report listed rare earth deposits in states that include California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Missouri and Utah.

//clipped\\

....Molycorp has since reorganized as an independent company after Chevron purchased Unocal. It expects to resume mining at Mountain Pass and plans to produce cerium, lanthanum, praseodymium and neodymium oxides by 2012, even if it must ship those oxides to China for final processing....

Even more disturbing details here...
\\clipped//

Chinese companies have begun moving in on certain mining companies, given their interest in a wide range of resources such as rare earth elements. China Minmetals Group of China previously provided financial backing for Upland Wings, Inc. and Wings Enterprises, Inc., which owns both iron and rare earth deposits at Pea Ridge, Missouri.

In 2009, the China Investment Corp bought a 17 percent stake in Teck Resources Ltd., which represents Canada's major base metals company. Teck holds rare earth deposits at Iron Hills in Colorado.

From battle tanks to drones

The U.S. Department of Defense did not have details on national security risks related to a possible rare earth shortage for the GAO report. But it plans to complete its assessment of dependency upon rare earths by September 2010.

Military officials did stress how rare earth elements form a currently irreplaceable part of devices such as lasers, radar, missile-guidance systems, satellites and aircraft electronics. And many military systems also rely upon commercial computer hard drives that use rare earth magnets.

Even more specific examples of rare earth-driven technologies include the navigation system for the M1A2 Abrams battle tank, and a new hybrid electric drive in the works for the Navy's DDG-51 destroyers.

Rare earth elements might eventually become part of the U.S. National Defense Stockpile, according to the GAO report.

Yet the world's largest producer of rare earth elements may already be one step ahead: The rare earth unit of China's Baotou Iron & Steel Group gained official approval in February to begin building a strategic reserve of rare earth elements, China's official newspaper, People's Daily, recently reported.

Full story here...


Seems like bombing the hell out of Iran against Russia's and China's strategic interests for the sole "benefit and pleasure" of our Likudnik owners, is going to be lots of fun

[Brocke]

The rare earth elements crisis
by Dave Cohen

As economists focus on the Sacred GDP number, which must remain positive to maintain the statistical recovery myth, there is another crisis brewing in the world of crucial resources. In yesterday's post Energy Consumption And Progress, I alluded to the Age of Resource Competition. Today this competition is most evident in the production of rare earth elements—

There are 17 rare earth elements (REEs). They have names like lanthanum, europium and yttrium. And they're critical to a variety of high-tech products and manufacturing processes, including

• catalytic converters,
• petroleum refining,
• color TV and flat panel displays,
• permanent magnets,
• batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles,
• medical devices,
• and various defense systems like missiles,
• jet engines, and
• satellite components.

About 124,000 metric tons of REEs were produced in 2009, with worldwide demand during this period estimated to be 134,000 metric tons — the difference have been made up from existing stockpiles. By 2012, worldwide demand is expected to reach 180,000 metric tons while mining operations are not expected to keep up with demand in the near term.

This situation is explored in a report published by the Congressional Research Service in late July and recently posted to the Federation of American Scientists' Secrecy News Web site.

[My note: There are 17 rare earth elements (REEs), 15 within the chemical group called lanthanides, plus yttrium and scandium.The lanthanides consist of the following: lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium.]



Unfortunately, there isn't much actual competition at the moment because the Chinese produce 97% of REEs worldwide, which puts the United States in a precarious position—



Critical to the discussion is the fact that 97% of rare earth element production is currently controlled by China, where internal demand is rising and interest in exporting these materials is becoming more complicated as China's leaders look to take advantage of their country's market dominance.

Read More
http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2010-08-31/rare-earth-elements-crisis
originally at: http://www.declineoftheempire.com/2010/08/the-rare-earth-element-crisis.html

[Brocke]

Global supply of rare earth elements could be wiped out by 2012
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

(NaturalNews) It's the bubble you've probably never heard of: The rare earth bubble. And it's due to pop in 2012, potentially devastating the industries of western nations that depend on these rare elements.

What industries are those? The automobile industry uses tens of thousands of tons of rare earth elements each year, and advanced military technology depends on these elements, too. Lots of "green" technologies depend on them, including wind turbines, low-energy light bulbs and hybrid car batteries. In fact, much of western civilization depends on rare earth elements such as terbium, lanthanum and neodymium.

So what's the problem with these rare elements? 97 percent of the world's supply comes from mines in China, and China is prepared to simply stop exporting these strategic elements to the rest of the world by 2012.

If that happens, the western world will be crippled by the collapse of available rare earth elements. Manufacturing of everything from computers and electronics to farm machinery will grind to a halt. Electronics will disappear from the shelves and prices for manufactured goods that depend on these rare elements will skyrocket.

These 17 rare earth elements (REE) -- all of which are metals -- are strategic resources upon which entire nations are built. In many ways, they are similar to rubber -- a resource so valuable and important to the world that many experts call it the "fourth most important natural resource in the world," right after water, steel and oil. Without rubber, you couldn't drive your car to work or water your lawn. Many medical technologies would cease to work and virtually all commercial construction would grind to a halt.

Many of the strategic battles fought in World War II were fought, in fact, over control of rubber, most of which now comes through Singapore and its surrounding regions (Malaysia and Indonesia).

Global shortage of Rare Earth Elements coming...
Now, by threatening to cut off the world's supply of rare earth elements, China appears to be attempting to monopolize this extremely important strategic resource. According to information received by The Independent, by 2012 China may cease all exports of rare earth elements, reserving them for its own economic expansion.

An article in that paper quotes REE expert Jack Lifton as saying, "A real crunch is coming. In America, Britain and elsewhere we have not yet woken up to the fact that there is an urgent need to secure the supply of rare earths from sources outside China."

And yet virtually no one has heard of this problem! People are familiar with peak oil, global warming, ocean acidification, the national debt and the depletion of fossil water, but very few are aware of the looming crisis in rare metals... upon which much of western civilization rests.

For those who still aren't convinced this is a big deal, consider this: Without rare earth elements, we would have no iPhones. Yeah, I know. That's a disaster, huh?

We would have no fiber optic cables, either. No X-ray machines, no car stereos and no high-tech missile guidance systems for the military. And here's the real kicker: No electric motors.

Read more
http://www.naturalnews.com/028028_rare_earth_elements_mining.html

[Letsbereal]

Japan considers moves to secure rare earths - Tokyo lays out new plan after purported shipment ban by China
1 October 2010, (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/japan-considers-moves-to-secure-rare-earths-2010-10-01

Excerpt:

Japanese officials reportedly are studying the feasibility of stockpiling rare earths minerals in an effort to guard against abrupt supply disruptions.

The move reflect a policy shift toward establishing greater independence in sourcing the materials.

It comes after China is believed to have impeded shipments of such materials during a recent diplomatic feud between Beijing and Tokyo, according to Japanese press reports. China has denied banning shipments of the rare resources, used in the manufacturing of high-tech products, to Japan.

Nevertheless, the situation “reminded us of the need to craft a long-term strategy to procure rare earths,” Akihiro Ohata, Japan’s economy, trade and industry minister, told reporters, according to a Kyodo report Friday.

Other steps being taken include accelerated development of technology to create alternatives, establishing major recycling plants for rare earths in Japan, and developing new production methods that cut consumption of the materials, he said.

----

China holds the richest known deposits of rare earths and supplies about 90% of such materials used by Japanese industry.

Ohata said Beijing appears to have lifted the ban on shipments, noting that a ship with a rare earth cargo is apparently on its way to Japan.

----

The alleged embargo of rare earths shipments was seen as an effort by China to pressure Japan to release the captain of fishing trawler involved in a collision with maritime vessels near a set of disputed islands about three weeks ago. The captain was released, and Japan rejected Beijing’s demand for a formal apology over the incident.

[Letsbereal]

China’s not a superpower in the commodities markets - Commodities may be the nation’s weakness, not strength
1 October 2010, by Myra P. Saefong (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinas-not-a-superpower-in-commodities-markets-2010-10-01

Excerpt:

“China is a net commodity importer, not a net commodity exporter,” said Martin Hennecke, an associate director at Tyche Group Ltd. in Hong Kong.

That means “other countries have more power over China in denying China the needed commodity imports, than China would have over the other countries,” he said.

----

“I don’t think that China can play any commodity cards,” said William Gamble, president of Emerging Market Strategies. “They import commodities.”

True, “just about every commodity I can think of is affected in some way by demand from China,” he said, noting that China is a net importer of oil, iron ore, cotton, corn, wheat, soybeans, sugar — and “just about everything else.”

----

If China cuts off demand by limiting imports, “it just hurts their economy by driving up prices, which increases inflation,” Gamble said, and “cutting off demand helps everyone else.”

“Fortunately, the Chinese are under pressure to keep people employed, to keep their economy growing, and to continue importing many of the raw materials they need,” said Gissen.

Influential exports

Still, China has a few commodity exports it can use to flex its muscles, if it chooses to.

Rare-earth resources are definitely a stand-out among those, though maybe not as powerful a retaliatory tool as some might think.

China dominates production of the world’s rare earths, which are used in everything from automobiles and computer monitors to pharmaceuticals. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rare-earths-are-vital-and-china-owns-them-all-2009-09-24

“In rare earths, China is the big stick,” Schmidt said, pointing out that no substitutes exist for these resources.

----

“China has a more important tool than commodity exports,” said Schmidt. “China’s most important commodity is money, and ultimately everyone wants to do business with them.”

The U.S. has become dependent not only on “Wal-Mart China-made goods, but also on credit from China (Treasury purchases),” said Hennecke. “If China sold its Treasury holdings, it could cause the collapse of the U.S. financial system anytime, which would be much more devastating than not exporting a few commodities.”

At the end of the day, however, “it’s not in China’s interest to harm either Japan or the United States, as China too aims to develop a healthy trade with the rest of the world, and to grow its economy in a stable world,” he said.

[citizenx]

“China has a more important tool than commodity exports,” said Schmidt. “China’s most important commodity is money, and ultimately everyone wants to do business with them.”

That's the big one.  That's the bottom line.

[agentbluescreen]

Their only prime "commodities" are a virtually absolute monopoly on cheap (and expendable) labor, and on nonexistent industrial environmental standards.

Inasmuch as "money" may be a pleasant-sounding euphemism for those twin tyrannies, the aforesaid statement may be somewhat true. But let's not put the cart before the horses.

[citizenx]

Well, they're making nice again -- though China is still up one pawn by my count.

China's and Japan's leaders meet, signal a diplomatic thawBy the CNN Wire Staff
October 5, 2010 -- Updated 0454 GMT (1254 HKT)


NEW: Wen and Kan also reiterated their nations' claims to disputed islands
Wen Jiabao and Naoto Kan met on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting
They spoke for about 25 minutes, Kan said
The leaders agreed on the mutual benefits of China and Japan maintaining good relations

RELATED TOPICS
China
World Politics
Naoto Kan
Japan
Wen Jiabao
 
(CNN) -- China's and Japan's top leaders met in Belgium, indicating a thaw in relations since a diplomatic battle broke out last month over Japan's arrest of a Chinese fishing captain off the disputed Diaoyu Islands.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan met Monday in Brussels, on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting.

They met in a corridor outside the conference venue after a working dinner and spoke for about 25 minutes, Kan told reporters, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency.

During the meeting, Wen stressed the mutual benefits of Beijing and Tokyo maintaining good relations, according to China's state-run media. Kan said likewise, Kyodo said.

Wen and Kan "agreed to step up people-to-people exchange and communication between the governments, and hold China-Japan high-level meeting at an appropriate time," according to the Xinhua news agency.

continued:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/10/05/china.japan.relations/index.html?hpt=T1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lord only knows what this means yet.

[TahoeBlue]

http://www.criticalstrategicmetals.com/chinas-stranglehold-on-worlds-rare-earth-supply/
September 2nd, 2010
All 17 of the rare earth elements are metals. Cerium, dysprosium, erbium, europium, gadolinium, holmium, lanthanum, lutetium, neodymium, praseodymium, promethium, samarium, scandium, terbium, thulium, ytterbium and yttrium –

About 97% of the world’s rare earth supplies originate from China. In fact, there are very few companies outside China producing the metals. Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare Earth Hi-Tech Co. is China’s single largest producer of the metals.

In 2008, China produced 120,000 tonnes of rare earth metals followed by India with 2,700 tonnes. Brazil and Malaysia were the third and fourth largest producers respectively.

China, Japan and the United States are the largest consumers of rare earth metals. With the growing demand for ‘green’ products, the demand for rare earth metals is only expected to increase. Supplies however, are facing deep constraints. The annual growth in demand is expected to hover around 10% but according to analysts, China will be able to supply only 160,000–170,000 tonnes of rare earth metals against an expected demand of 200,000–210,000 tonnes by 2014.

Since 2005, the Chinese government has been imposing export quotas on many of the rare earth metals, resulting in reduced global supply. Higher prices are a natural result of such supply restrictions.

[citizenx]

It's interesting, Japan has already come up with ways to build car engines without them and has come up with programs to extract rare earths from used electronics.  They are clearly getting ready for this thing.

America (as usual): "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!"

(We'll see what happens here in SK.)

[Letsbereal]

U.S. Losing Control of Bombs to China Neodymium Monopoly
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/63400346/

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- China has become the world's leading supplier of components crucial to U.S. defense systems, products once supplied by American companies such as Magnequench Inc. and Molycorp Inc. Bloomberg's Kevin Thrash reports.

This report also contains comments from Teri Luna, a former employee at Magnequench, and Stan Trout, an adjunct physics professor at Marian University and former Magnequench employee. (Source: Bloomberg)


Stupid American bitch!

About Smart Bombs: "I don't remember of any recalls that we had"

What does this stupid bitch expects? That the Afghan and Pakistan citizens are gonna send a complain, "He I got a smart bomb on my head but it didn't went of"

[citizenx]

And then again:

China’s Ban on Selling Rare Earth Minerals to Japan Continues
By KEITH BRADSHER and EDWARD WONG
Published: October 10, 2010

 
HONG KONG — Chinese customs officials continued to prohibit all exports of rare earth minerals to Japan over the weekend, industry officials said, but the Chinese government showed signs of taking a more conciliatory stance toward Japan.

The last one of four employees of a Japanese construction company who were detained on Sept. 23 near a Chinese military area returned to Japan on Sunday. All four had been taken into custody during a dispute over a Chinese fishing boat captain whose vessel collided with two Japanese patrol boats on one night near islands Japan controls but China claims. Japan detained the captain on Sept. 8 and released him on Sept. 24.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China told European political and business leaders Wednesday that China had not imposed any bans on exports of industrial minerals for political purposes and that it did not intend to stop exports in the future.

Rare earth minerals are used in the manufacture of hybrid gasoline-electric cars, computer screens, large wind turbines and in many other applications.

continued:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/11/business/global/11rare.html?_r=1&ref=business

[citizenx]

Pentagon Losing Control of Bombs to China’s Monopoly
September 29, 2010, 6:53 PM EDT

By Peter Robison and Gopal Ratnam
for Business Week

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- A senior manager at a company that churns out metals routinely used in U.S. smart bombs pauses in mid-sentence when his phone rings: a Wall Street stockbroker looking for information. He makes a note to have an assistant call back -- someone who is fluent in English, not just Chinese.

“It’s a seller’s market now,” says Bai Baosheng, 43, puffing a cigarette in his office in Baotou, China, where his company sells bags of powder containing a metallic element known as neodymium, vital in tiny magnets that direct the fins of bombs dropped by U.S. Air Force jets in Afghanistan.

A generation after Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping made mastering neodymium and 16 other elements known as rare earths a priority, China dominates the market, with far-reaching effects ranging from global trade friction to U.S. job losses and threats to national security.

continued:


http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-09-29/pentagon-losing-control-of-bombs-to-china-s-monopoly.html

[citizenx]

Now this seems like arrogance on Japan's part.  they are criticizing China and South Korea for not devaluating their currencies.  Sound familiar?

Just like the U.S. trying to dictate currency policy to China.

Now the Chinese peg their currency to the dollar.  they don't want their currency to appreciate, so that their exports to the U.S and elsewhere become more expensive for people overseas to buy and, hence, begin to decrease.  The South Koreans, though they do not peg their currency exactly to the dollar, obviuosly still use it as a yardstick, as it were.

They think that the Koreans have intentionally allowed their currency to devaluate versus the Yen, but it is becasue the dollar has depreciated and the Koreans have depreciated their currency accordingly as have the Chinese.

It seems as if the Japanese want to balme the rest of the world for their deflationary spiral.  Why aren't they lambasting America?

What's the matter, Japan, aren't you ready to take on the U.S. again?  Better to make enemies of all the rest of the world.

But I think it is not Japan's business how China and South Korea value or devalue their currency.

Similarly, it is none of our (U.S.) business either what China does with its.

These currency wars are madness.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Japan warns China on currency policy
By Mure Dickie, Lindsay Whipp and Christian Oliver
October 14, 2010 -- Updated 0238 GMT (1038 HKT)
 
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan at a press conference at his official residence in Tokyo on August 10.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Kan: Efforts by individual nations to depress currencies have no place in G-20 cooperation
Data show China's foreign exchange reserves increased by record $194B in third quarter
Yen climbed 29 percent against dollar since 2008 Lehman Brothers' collapse
South Korea says it does not intervene to prevent won's appreciation
(FT.com) -- Japan has called on South Korea and China to "act responsibly" on exchange rates in an unusually strong statement ahead of the G20 summit of leading nations in Seoul, expected to be overshadowed by rising tensions over currencies.

The statement by Naoto Kan, Japan's prime minister, adds to pressure on Seoul as the host of the meeting in November to broker a discussion on currencies despite some countries, including China, pushing to keep the issue low on the agenda.

Mr. Kan said efforts by individual nations to depress their currencies had no place in G20 co-operation. "We'd like South Korea and China to act responsibly within common rules," he said.

Washington and Beijing are locked in an increasingly acrimonious dispute, with the US calling for faster renminbi appreciation, while China blames loose US monetary policy for propelling destabilising fund flows into emerging markets.


continued:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/10/13/japan.china.ft/index.html?hpt=T2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apparently, though, the hostilities continue -- and now Japan has dragged SK into the fray.

It's no wonder there is still little love for the Japanese in these parts.

[citizenx]

Dollar hits fresh 15-year-low against yen
Dollar hits fresh 15-year-low against yen in Tokyo amid speculation over Fed's action

 
ShareretweetEmailPrintOn Thursday October 14, 2010, 12:10 am EDT
TOKYO (AP) -- The dollar hit a fresh 15-year-low against the yen in Tokyo Thursday amid growing speculation that the Federal Reserve will ease monetary policy next month.

The U.S. currency was quoted at 81.23 yen at one point in early Thursday trading in Tokyo.

The dollar has been under pressure as investors bet that the U.S. Federal Reserve will enact a bond-buying program in early November. Buying bonds would drive interest rates and yields even lower, and tends to encourage dollar-selling.

Japan's finance minister has repeatedly warned Tokyo would take action to stem a rise in the yen. A strong yen hurts Japanese exporters as it cuts the value of their repatriated profits.

Japan intervened on Sept. 15 to weaken the yen, spending 2.12 trillion yen on currency intervention in the month through Sept. 28. The move worked initially, weakening the yen as hoped. But the impact was short-lived.


continued:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Dollar-hits-fresh-15yearlow-apf-1286494476.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode=
==========================================================================================

Yeah, Japan.  WTH!   Come and get us.  We have the temerity to bitch about the Chinese. Why don't you go after us for devaluing our currency?

Oh, yeah, we keep buying your goods anyway.

[citizenx]

Trade Officials Ponder China’s Rare Earth Stance
By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: October 13, 2010

 
BEIJING — As a three-week-long Chinese suspension in exports of crucial minerals to Japan continues, American and Japanese trade officials have been considering whether to file cases against China at the World Trade Organization.

Neodymium and several other rare earth minerals are mined in China, which is no longer sending them to Japan.
Trade lawyers say an embargo case could be brought to the W.T.O., although they said it might be a hard case to win because China has not acknowledged the halt in exports through any documents or public statements.

Coincidentally, Obama administration trade officials had been quietly meeting for months with executives and lawyers from a range of American industries that use rare earth elements, long before China halted shipments to Japan on Sept. 21, according to trade lawyers and Congressional and industry officials.

continued:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/business/global/14rare.html?ref=business

[Letsbereal]

China Says Its Medium, Heavy Rare Earth Reserves May Last Only 15-20 Years
16 October 2010, (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-16/china-says-its-medium-heavy-rare-earth-reserves-may-last-only-15-20-years.html

Excerpt:

China’s medium and heavy rare earths reserves may last 15 years to 20 years at the current rate of production, possibly requiring imports, the Ministry of Commerce said today.

Domestic rare earths deposits dropped to 27 million metric tons by the end of 2009, or just 30% of the world’s total known reserves, from 43 million tons, or 43% of the world total, in 1996, Chao Ning, section chief of foreign trade at the ministry said at a Beijing conference.

China, controller of more than 90% of production of the materials used in cell phones and radar, cut its export quotas by 72% for the second half and reduced output, spurring a trade dispute with the U.S. The country may not be able to meet growing global demand as the government continues to curb output, Lynas Corp. said in March.

“We cannot rule out the possibility that China may need to rely on imports sometime in the future for these minerals, instead of supplying the world,” Chao said.

Japan, the world’s biggest importer of rare earths, will urge China to boost shipments of the minerals after a government survey showed that 31 Japanese buyers reported problems with exports, Trade Minister Akihiro Ohata said in Tokyo Oct. 5.

U.S. Complaint

The U.S. has asked business groups and labor unions to provide evidence that China is hoarding these elements for a case that might be filed at the World Trade Organization.

Production and export quota cuts are to protect the environment and in line with WTO rules, Yao Jian, spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce, said yesterday.

[Brocke]

Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are becoming increasingly important commodities that have major strategic implications. This importance was recognised by China's ex-premier Deng Xiaoping as far back as 1997 when he commented: "China would be for rare earth metals what the Middle East was to oil". Since then China has established in practical terms a monopoly where it produces over 95% of the global supply.

Problems surrounding the Rare Earth industry

You don’t have to dig that deep to find that rare earths aren’t actually that rare. They’re just difficult to extract and can often be environmentally difficult.

China realized that rare earth elements were worth the effort long ago, accelerating production under the late Deng Xiaoping. He used to compare China’s rare earths to Saudi Arabia’s oil.

Yet the U.S. moved in the opposite direction for years. Once the world’s leading producer, it now mines none of it, mostly because of onerous environmental regulations. The government has begun to look into starting up again. But that means little for now.

In April, the Government Accounting Office reported that rebuilding the nation’s rare earth supply chain could take up to 15 years. And, according to the same source, the U.S. needs patents currently held by foreign companies.

Perhaps the country can learn something from Japan, the world’s biggest rare earths consumer. It has no supplies of its own though, so it’s searching elsewhere… without waiting for study results.

This makes sense since most geologists think up to two-thirds of the world’s deposits of rare earths lie unexploited, outside of China. That’s a good thing too, considering how it uses much of what it produces for its own burgeoning high-tech industries.

As China grows, it will have less and less to sell to other countries. Recognizing this, Japanese companies have taken to scouring Canada, India, Australia, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Brazil and Mongolia to find the next big deposits.

ASX Listed Rare Earth Companies with a JORC resource

ASX Code: LYC
LYNAS CORPORATION LIMITED
Market Cap AUD$2,113m (23/09/2010)
JORC resource at Mt Weld, WA.
1,183,000t Contained


ASX Code: ARU
ARAFURA RESOURCES LIMITED
Market Cap AUD$285m (23/09/2010)
JORC resource at Nolan's Bore, NT.
840,000t Contained


ASX Code: ALK
ALKANE RESOURCES LIMITED
Market Cap AUD$163m (23/09/2010)
Jorc Resource at Dubbo, NSW.
660,000t Total Measured and Inferred

[Brocke]

China's unofficial rare earth elements embargo of Japan may ignite global REE fire

Reported by Proactive Investors on Tuesday, 5 October 2010 (2 weeks ago)

A recent unofficial rare earth elements embargo by China on Japanese manufacturers over a diplomatic squabble may have been the wake-up call forcing western nations to form their own REE strategies.

Japan controlled these islands from 1895 until her surrender at the end of World War II. The United States administered them as part of the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands from 1945 until 1972, when they were reverted to Japan. Since 1971, they have been claimed by both the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People's Republic of China. China has claimed discovery and administration between 16th century or earlier till 1895.

The islands are a major issue in foreign relations between Japan and the PRC and between Japan and the ROC. Despite the complexity of relations between the two states, both the governments of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and People's Republic of China agree that the islands are part of Taiwan as part of Toucheng Township in Yilan County. The Japanese government regards these islands as a part of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture.

On one hand, some Chinese have described the territorial dispute as a disruptive mine planted by the United States into Sino-Japanese relations;  and on the other hand, some Japanese news media position all discussion about the islands' status within a broader pattern of Chinese territorial assertions.  The historical record creates a context for specific incidents in the unfolding history of these islands. Other nations closely monitor the evolution and development of this dispute.

The incident stemming from an altercation between a Chinese fishing boat being harassed by Japanese patrol boats resulting from a lengthy dispute of ownership of the Senkaky Islands ended up with a Chinese captain being arrested on Sept. 7 and the Chinese government demanding his freedom.

When the Japanese refused to release their captive, they claim that REE shipments to the country from China were unofficially frozen. Japan is the biggest importer of rare earths, depending on China for 90% of its rare earth supplies. Japan's manufacturers account for 65% of China's rare earth exports.

Read more: http://www.onenewspage.com.au/news/Business/20101005/15709874/China-unofficial-rare-earth-elements-embargo-of.htm

[chrisfromchi]

ugh this is like that civilization video game and china has control of all the best resource nodes...

[TahoeBlue]

This whole story of China's rare earth's seems to be some sort of psych-op , since there seems to be a news item every week.

http://www.wopular.com/china-rare-earths-last-15-20-years-may-import
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-10-16/china-rare-earths-to-last-15-20-years-may-import.html
China’s medium and heavy rare earths reserves may last 15 years to 20 years at the current rate of production, possibly requiring imports, the Ministry of Commerce said today.
...
China, controller of more than 90 percent of production of the materials used in cell phones and radar, cut its export quotas by 72 percent for the second half and reduced output, spurring a trade dispute with the U.S. The country may not be able to meet growing global demand as the government continues to curb output, Lynas Corp. said in March.

[citizenx]

All part of the "we will all be out of all materials in twenty years psyop".

[Letsbereal]

Rare-earth price rally to lift Asian producers - Japanese manufacturers hold off price pain for now
18 October 2010, by Myra P. Saefong (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rare-earth-price-rally-to-lift-asian-producers-2010-10-18

Excerpt:

A sharp drop in Chinese exports of rare-earth metals has fueled a rally in global prices, and Asian miners of these commodities are poised to benefit.

And while Japanese manufacturers that use the metals have managed to hold off the brunt of the price pain for the now, shortages of the metals are possible next year, strategists said.

Japanese companies have seen a large decline in imports of the rare earths from China since July, according to The Wall Street Journal, and the situation worsened after the Japanese detained a fishing-boat captain in disputed waters in the East China Sea in August, raising tension between the two nations.

“While investors watch the gold price touch new highs, metals termed ‘rare earth’ that are used in a variety of industrial applications have climbed far faster over the past month,” strategists at Nomura told clients in a note issued last week.

Rare earths, comprised of about 17 elements, serve as vital components in everything from lasers, optical fibers and petroleum refining, to automotive parts, computer monitors and televisions. Read report on rare-earth investment opportunities.

”The increasing need by the electronics industry for special metals with defined characteristics, such as inertness, conductivity and fusibility, has seen a revival in demand for [rare earths],” Nomura strategists said.

That demand combined with the tension between China and Japan last month to boost prices for the rare earths worldwide.

Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. in August announced a 20% price increase for its main product, rare-earth magnets, noting that prices for neodymium had climbed 2.5 times from the price seen in the summer of 2009, while prices for dysprosium had doubled since the beginning of this year. Find some price quotes for rare earths on Metal Pages.

Nomura reports that the price of rare earths has soared by 200% over the past three months.

And with China the world’s biggest producer, accounting for more than 95% of global supplies of rare earths, it could be at an advantage.

“China would withstand the inflation from higher prices due to massive volume of capacity and output [of rare earths], and control over most of the life cycle of the finished goods that the planet can’t live without,” said Richard Hastings, marco and consumer strategist at Global Hunter Securities. “All of this encourages more investment into China, from abroad but especially internally in China.”

[Letsbereal]

China Official Says No Plans to Cut Rare Earth Quotas
19 October 2010, (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-19/china-official-says-no-plans-to-cut-rare-earth-export-quotas-for-next-year.html

Excerpt:

“There is no such thing,” Jiang Fan, deputy director general of the department of foreign trade at the Ministry of Commerce, told Bloomberg News. “I haven’t heard any policy that China will reduce rare earth exports by 30% next year.”

She was responding to a China Daily report that rare earth export quotas for 2011 would be cut by as much as 30%.

China cut its export quota of rare earths, metals used to make parts of hybrid cars, missiles and televisions, by 40% this year to boost prices and reduce pollution.

Export prices of some rare earths oxides have surged as much as tenfold this year from 2009, according to the website of Lynas Corp., which is building a rare earth project in Australia. Cerium oxide, which is used in automotive catalytic converters, has jumped from $7.49 a kilogram in the second quarter, to $40 as of Oct. 18, according to Lynas Corp.

China’s medium and heavy rare earths reserves may last 15 years to 20 years at the current rate of production, possibly requiring imports, the Ministry of Commerce said on Oct. 16.

----

China has the largest share of worldwide reserves, about 36%, and the U.S. is second, with 13%, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

[Letsbereal]

China cuts 2011 rare earths export quotas: report
19 October 2010, by Chris Oliver (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-cuts-2011-rare-earths-export-quotas-report-2010-10-19

Excerpt:

China will reduce the amount of rare earth metals slated for export next year by 30% to help protect its natural deposits from over-exploitation, the official China Daily reported Tuesday.

----

China's known domestic deposits of rare earth metals were about 27 million tons at the end of 2009, compared to 43 million tons in 1996, the report cited a government official as saying.

[Letsbereal]

China to Halt Some Exports to U.S.
19 October 2010, by Keith Bradsher (The New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/business/global/20rare.html?_r=1&hp

Excerpt:

China, which has been blocking shipments of crucial minerals to Japan for the last month, has now quietly halted shipments of those materials to the United States and Europe, three industry officials said on Tuesday.

The Chinese action, involving rare earth minerals that are crucial to manufacturing many advanced products, seems certain to further intensify already rising trade and currency tensions with the West. Until recently, China typically sought quick and quiet accommodations on trade issues. But the interruption in rare earth supplies is the latest sign from Beijing that Chinese leaders are willing to use their growing economic muscle.

“The embargo is expanding” beyond Japan, said one of the three rare earth industry officials, all of whom insisted on anonymity for fear of business retaliation by Chinese authorities.

They said Chinese customs officials imposed the broader restrictions on Monday morning, hours after a top Chinese official summoned international news media Sunday night to denounce United States trade actions.

China mines 95% of the world’s rare earth elements, which have broad commercial and military applications, and are vital to the manufacture of products as diverse as cellphones, large wind turbines and guided missiles. Any curtailment of Chinese supplies of rare earths is likely to be greeted with alarm in Western capitals, particularly because Western companies are believed to keep much smaller stockpiles of rare earths than Japanese companies.

----

Mr. Waterman said that rare earths were so important to advanced manufacturing that restrictions on their trade might need to be put on the agenda of the Group of 20 meeting of heads of state, scheduled next month in Seoul, South Korea.

The Chinese government office that oversees rare earth policy, which operated with considerable independence for many years, was moved early last year into the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. That ministry, formed only two years ago to draft plans for global leadership in many industries, has emerged as a bastion of economic nationalism.

Despite their name, most rare earths are not particularly rare. But most of the industry has moved to China over the last two decades because of lower costs and weak environmental enforcement there.

Congress is considering legislation to provide loan guarantees for the re-establishment of rare earth mining and manufacturing in the United States. But new mines are likely to take three to five years to reach full production, according to industry executives, although existing uranium mines may be able to move faster by reprocessing previously mined material, which often contains rare earths.

China reduced in July its export quota for rare earths for the second half of the year by 72%. Exporters had only six weeks’ of quotas left when China imposed its unannounced embargo on shipments to Japan.

China is preparing further reductions of up to 30% in its 2011 quotas compared with quotas issued in 2010. Dudley Kingsnorth, a rare earth market analyst at Industrial Minerals Company of Australia in Perth, said that if China further reduced export quotas by 30% for next year, manufacturers elsewhere could face difficulties.

[Letsbereal]

China Vows to Continue Supply of Rare Earths After NYT Reports Export Ban
20 October 2010, (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-20/china-vows-to-continue-supply-of-rare-earths-after-nyt-reports-export-ban.html

China’s Commerce Ministry pledged that the country will “continue to supply rare earths to the world,” in response to claims in the New York Times (See Article Above) that an informal ban on exports has widened to include Europe and the U.S.

[citizenx]

OK, it's official.

The People's Republic of China is officially diagnosed as completely fu#%ing splitso-phrenic with regards to the on-again/off-again semi-quasi-certifiably official reduction in rare earths exports.

Of course they were already diagnosed as an NWO puppet model poster-child state some time ago.

Here's an idea:  why regulate exports or imports at all?

Whoa!  Real capitalism.

You up for it China?

Ready to play with the big dogs?

Honestly, these games don't really benefit your country or state one whit.

It certainly raises the question of exactly who is in charge of your humongous police state though?

I mean whose butt do you have to kiss now to buy some unobtainium?

Something about fire drills comes to mind.

[Letsbereal]

China Pledges Rare Earth Supplies, Signals Exports May Rebound
20 October 2010, (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-20/china-pledges-to-maintain-rare-earth-sales-official-says-exports-may-rise.html

Excerpt:

China pledged to maintain supplies of rare earths and signaled exports of the ingredients used in electronics, wind turbines and smart bombs may rise next year.

The Commerce Ministry denied reports in the New York Times and China Daily that the government plans further export cuts and has extended an embargo of Japan to include the U.S. and Europe.

“China will continue to supply rare earth to the world,” the ministry said in a faxed response today.

“China might raise the production cap and export quota slightly next year,” said Wang Caifeng, until last week the deputy director at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology who oversaw the sector, adding that it was her personal opinion. She is now in charge of setting up the ministry-affiliated China Rare Earth Industry Association.

----

“To protect exhaustible resources and ensure sustainable development, China will continue to implement restrictions on the mining, production and export of rare earth,” the Commerce Ministry said.

----

Communist Party leaders meeting in Beijing this week outlined plans to build a fairer society through investing in technology industries such as alternative energy, and by conserving natural resources and tackling pollution. That’s likely to increase competition with developed economies such as the U.S. and Japan for resources needed to fuel this growth.

China invested $34.5 billion in low-carbon energy technologies last year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The U.S. spent $18.6 billion.

The U.S. is considering making a case at the World Trade Organization over China’s aid to its clean-energy producers, acting on a complaint from the United Steelworkers union that says the assistance violates global trade rules.


‘Bit Hypocritical’

“There’s no need to politicize the issue” of rare earth exports, Wang said. “It’s also a bit hypocritical for the developed countries to ask China to reduce carbon emissions and reduce energy consumption, while criticizing China’s move to consolidate the rare earth industry to preserve its own environment.”

China has already cut the number of rare earth companies this year, said Li Zhong, deputy general manager of Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Co.

“There used to be many smaller miners and producers, but this year, after China tightened production rules, all of them were forced out of business,” he said at a conference on the minerals in the northeastern Chinese city of Xiamen today. “We are the sole producer now in” Inner Mongolia.

By 2015 the government wants to reduce the number of rare earth oxide producers from 90 to 20, he said.

China set the production cap at 89,200 metric tons this year, while slashing its export quota to 22,300 tons, according to estimates by Guosen. “The reduction of output and exports this year was to prevent raw materials being sold too quickly and too cheaply,” Peng said by phone from Shenzhen today, adding that rising prices may lead to higher exports.