China Moving To Restrict Neodymium Supply

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday January 2, 2010 @06:28AM from the not-for-all-the-tea-in-oh-wait dept.

GuyFawkes writes with this quote from the Independent: "Britain and other Western countries risk running out of supplies of certain highly sought-after rare metals that are vital to a host of green technologies, amid growing evidence that China, which has a monopoly on global production, is set to choke off exports of valuable compounds. Failure to secure alternative long-term sources of rare earth elements (REEs) would affect the manufacturing and development of low-carbon technology, which relies on the unique properties of the 17 metals to mass-produce eco-friendly innovations such as wind turbines and low-energy light bulbs. China, whose mines account for 97 per cent of global supplies, is trying to ensure that all raw REE materials are processed within its borders. During the past seven years it has reduced by 40 per cent the amount of rare earths available for export."

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Re:Obviously by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2010-01-02 06:45 · Score: 5, Interesting

I always have to wonder at what point the "if you owe the bank $10,000 you have a problem, if you owe the bank $10,000,000 they have a problem" principle kicks in...

The willingness of China to send actual goods(at the cost of deferring domestic consumption) in exchange for little green US treasury gift cards as some sort of neo-mercantilist scheme is rather convenient.