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| China to keep supplying its rare-earth metals |
| Bloomberg / Hanoi/ Bangkok Oct 31, 2010, 00:06 IST |
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China pledged to supply Japan and other countries with rare-earth metals, sales of which were reportedly disrupted last month during a territorial dispute that soured relations between Asia’s two largest economies.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made the vow during a trilateral meeting with counterparts from Japan and South Korea, Kim Hee Jung, a spokeswoman for South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, told reporters today in Hanoi. All three are attending meetings in Vietnam hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Wen said “China will continue to supply rare earths to the international community,” Kim told reporters after the meeting. Wen said “China will work with major buyers in expanding the source of rare earths and developing alternative minerals,” according to Kim.
The vow comes as Japan surveys its companies to see if China has resumed shipments of rare earth minerals, which are used in hybrid cars, batteries and missiles. China yesterday ended an unannounced embargo on exports of rare earths to the US, Europe and Japan, New York Times reported, citing four industry officials it didn’t identify.
“As of yesterday, there is no information about new cargo movements,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku told reporters in Tokyo. “The Japanese government intends to use every opportunity to ask China to improve the situation regarding export restrictions.”
Cut-off denied
China had blocked exports to Japan since September 21, and to the US and Europe on October 18, The New York Times said. China’s customs bureau today denied cutting off outbound shipments of rare earths, a group of 17 chemically similar metallic elements including cerium and europium.
China has been reviewing export licenses and other paperwork for rare-earth shipments, according to a statement read by an official in the bureau’s news office who declined to be identified. China in July said it was cutting export quotas for rare earths by 72 per cent for the second half of the year.
Japan urged China today to maintain exports of rare earths at the same level as last year, Japanese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Satoru Sato told reporters in Hanoi. China controls more than 90 per cent of world supply, leading Japan, the US and Germany to seek new supplies.
“Vietnam is one of the potential producers of rare earths, so we are interested in talking with Vietnam together with other potential suppliers in order to diversify our source of supply of rare earth minerals,” Sato said.
Environmental damage
Prices of rare earths have climbed as much as sevenfold in the past six months. Greenwood, Colorado-based Molycorp Inc. and Sydney-based Lynas Corp plan to open rare-earth mines in the US and Australia in the next two years.
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