China Lifts Mineral Embargo
The New York Times reports:
BAOTOU, China — The Chinese government on Thursday abruptly ended its unannounced export embargo on crucial rare earth minerals to the United States, Europe and Japan, four industry officials said.
The embargo, which has raised trade tensions, ended as it had begun — with no official acknowledgment from Beijing, or any explanation from customs agents at China’s ports.
Rare earths are increasingly in demand for their use in a broad range of sophisticated electronics, from smartphones to smart bombs.
Having blocked shipments of raw rare earth minerals to Japan since mid-September, and to the United States and Europe since early last week, Chinese customs agents on Thursday morning allowed shipments to resume to all three destinations, the industry officials said. They spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the business and diplomatic delicacy of the issue.
Shipments to Japan, however, still face additional scrutiny and some delays, the officials said.
Even with containers of rare earths once again leaving China’s docks, foreign buyers still face potential shortages. As China’s own industrial needs for rare earths have grown, Beijing has repeatedly reduced its export quotas for the minerals over the last five years. So even when China is shipping its full quotas, the outbound supply is now well below world demand.
Moreover, the tight export quotas have caused world prices to soar, even while holding steady in China.
Officials in two departments of China’s General Administration of Customs in Beijing declined to comment on Thursday evening about the status of rare earth exports. The commerce ministry, which handles trade policy, also had no immediate comment.
Although deposits of rare earths are found in various parts of the world, including the United States, China produces about 95 percent of the global supply of the minerals. That is largely because rare earth mining and processing can be so environmentally risky, creating toxic and even radioactive wastes, that other countries have tended to avoid or abandon production. Only recently have other nations begun scrambling to develop or expand their own mining capabilities.
