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Chinese Rare Earths Producer Suspends Output
concealment writes "State-owned Baotou Steel Rare Earth (Group) Hi-tech Co. said in a statement released through the Shanghai Stock Exchange that it suspended production Tuesday to promote 'healthy development' of rare earths prices. It gave no indication when production would resume and phone calls to the company on Thursday were not answered. Beijing is tightening control over rare earths mining and exports to capture more of the profits that flow to Western makers of lightweight batteries and other products made of rare earths. China has about 30 percent of rare earths deposits but accounts for more than 90 percent of production. Beijing alarmed global manufacturers by imposing export quotas in 2009. It also is trying to force Chinese rare earths miners and processors to consolidate into a handful of government-controlled groups."
Try starting a Chinese company that competes with one of the party backed ones and you'll see how capitalist they are not.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
No, don't put tariffs on them. Why would the US want to sell or produce rare earths? They are a finite resource. If China wants to burn through their supplies so the rest of the world can enjoy cheaper technology, then that is their prerogative. Once it's out of the ground and used to manufacture products shipped to the US then it can be recycled for reuse in new products. Either way the material is no longer in China. This is a gamble China has made to try and prop up their massive industry and population, is to not only undercut worldwide labor with a very cheap workforce, but also burn through their physical resources as well.
Nothing about China is sustainable, and there will be great sorrow and suffering in that country when the bottom drops out of various markets over the next decades.
The USA's production at various rare earth mines simply idled or completely stopped as prices dropped and it was not longer profitable to mine them. The rare earths are still sitting there waiting for us when we need them. No hurry to get to those resources at all.
Better known as 318230.