China s Chokehold On Rare-Earth Minerals Raises Concerns

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1 Page 1 of 6 A Publication of Yale Center for the Study of Globalization About Globalization (/content/about-globalization) E Following a boating mishap in the East China Sea, China swiftly banned exports to Japan of rare-earth mate manufacturing. China holds the largest reserves of the minerals required to manufacture cell phones, smart high-tech products. In recent months, industries reliant on rare earths have encountered increasing delays, heightened demand. China s official explanation for the slowdown mirrors reasons behind the end to US rar degradation. In 1990, the US was the industry s dominant force, but because of costs, ceded control to China assertiveness in the global scene, its dominance in rare-earth reserves and processing has raised concerns ab materials needed for a range of critical industries alternative energy, communications, transportation and a search for new deposits of rare-earth materials and alternative technology that could avoid acute dependen China s Chokehold On Rare-Earth Minerals Raises Concerns Unmindful US allows its dominance to slip in rare earths, required by high technology Michael Richardson YaleGlobal, 8 October 2010 SINGAPORE: In the race to build superior industrial and military products, China has a key advantage: the world s b that are essential to producing some of the newest technologies. Western businesses have been increasingly concern recent informal stoppage of exports of rare- earth material to Japan pushed the issue to the front burner. China dominates mining of rare earths used in an increasingly wide array of civilian and defense applications. Rare e commercial as well as military applications: electric motors and batteries for hybrid cars, wind-power turbines and s portable x-ray units, energy-efficient light bulbs and stadium lights, fiber optics, glass additives and polishing In a te earths have become some of the most sought-after materials in modern manufacturing, even though they re used in The late paramount leader of China, Deng Xiaoping, once said that rare earths would be to China what oil was to the corporate leaders in the United States, Japan, Europe and other advanced economies watch with mounting concern restricting exports and driving prices higher. This concern was heightened when Japan, the world s biggest importer of rare earths, reported last month that Chin for political reasons, after Tokyo detained a Chinese trawler captain in a bitter dispute between Asia s two top econo and valuable fisheries and seabed energy resources in the East China Sea.

2 Page 2 of 6 Good earth: Large reserves of rare earth gives China a chokehold (top) while abandoned mines increases US dependence on these strategic minerals

3 Page 3 of 6 Interactive Map: Rare Earth Mineral Locations Across the Globe However, Beijing may have overplayed its hand. China s moves have sent major consuming countries scurrying to se building stockpiles, providing incentives for domestic firms to mine and process rare earths, and finding alternative reduce reliance on rare earths. The US Geological Survey says that substitutes are available for many applications, but generally are less effective. S month that it had developed the first high-performance motor, free of rare earths, for petrol-electric hybrid vehicles The House of Representatives in Washington recently approved legislation to support revival of the once leading-edge rare-earths industry in the US, while the Energy Department says it will release a plan this autumn for developing more rare-earth metal supplies, in part by encouraging US trading partners to hasten expansion of production. Yet China could keep its dominant grip on the rare-earths industry for some years. It holds 35 percent of global reserves, but supplies over 95 percent of demand for rare-earth oxides, of which 60 percent is domestic, according to Industrial Minerals Company of Australia, a consultancy. Just as important, Chinese companies, many of them state-controlled, have advanced in their quest to make China the world leader in processing rare-earth metals into finished materials. Success in this quest could give China a decisive advantage not just in civilian industry, including clean energy, but also in military production if Chinese manufacturers were given preferential treatment over foreign competitors. Rare Earth Supply & Cerium is the most abundant of the 17 rare earths, all of which have similar chemical own rare-earth mater properties. A cerium-based coating is non-corrosive and has significant military applications. Enlarge Image (/sites/d The Pentagon is due to finish a report soon on the risks of US military dependence on rare earths from China. Their use is widespread in the defense systems of the US, its allies, and other countries that buy i

4 Page 4 of 6 In a report to the US Congress in April, the Government Accountability Office said that it had been told by officials and defense industry executives that where rare-earth alloys and other materials were used in military systems, they were responsible for the functionality of the component and would be difficult to replace without losing performance. For example, fin actuators in precision-guided bombs are specifically designed around the capabilities of neodymium iron boron rare-earth magnets. The main US battle tank, the M1A2 Abrams, has a reference and navigation system that relies on samarium cobalt magnets from China. An official report last year on the US national defense stockpile said that shortages of four rare earths lanthanum, cerium, europium and gadolinium had already caused delays in producing some weapons. It recommended further study to determine the severity of the delays. China recently cut its rare-earth export quotas by 72 per cent for the second half of this year. According to one indus demand is expected to exceed supply by as much as 50,000 tons by 2012 unless major new production sources are d Chinese officials say that mass extraction of rare earths is causing extensive environmental damage in China and tha controls over exploration, production and trade. Poisonous chemicals are used to mine rare earths, putting local wat Meanwhile, the US appears to be the victim of its own astonishing lack of foresight in security-related industrial policy. Until around 1990, the US was self-sufficient in rare earths and the world leader in processing and use. Yet within a decade, the US became more than 90 percent reliant on rare earths imported either directly from China or from countries that received plant-feed materials from China. Environmental and regulatory problems made mining and processing unattractive at the rare-earth site at Mountain Pass in California, which closed in Meanwhile, lower costs in China, continued expansion of electronics and other manufacturing in Asia based on rare earths, and the size and concentration of Chinese rareearth deposits drove the shift in comparative advantage from the US to China. Although tagged rare, rare earths are relatively common and widely dispersed around the world. However, in cont metals, they re seldom found concentrated in exploitable ore deposits. Of the nearly 100 million tons of known global reserves that can be economically extracted, 36,000 tons are at oppos north in Inner Mongolia. Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union have 19 million tons of reserves; the US million tons; and India, 3.1 million tons. The surge in Chinese rare-earth output initially flooded the market, cutting prices and stimulating new applications. on its advantage, the US and other advanced economies are trying to rush alternative rare-earth mines into producti improve security of supply. While demand is forecast to increase by around two thirds over the next five years, the US Geological Survey says th to be very large relative to expected demand. However, bringing new mines into production will take several years. A rare-earth deposits in the US, Canada, Australia and South Africa could be mined by 2014, rebuilding the US rare-ea years. Meanwhile, China will hold sway and serve a cautionary note on global interdependence and reliance of high t Michael Richardson, a former Asia editor of the International Herald Tribune, is a visiting senior research fellow at th Studies in Singapore.

5 Page 5 of 6 Rights:Copyright 2010 Yale Center for the Study of Globalization Comment on this Article (#comment-form) Discuss in our Forums ( (/printmail/6575) Print (/print/6575) Share ( Comments on this Article 8 October 2010 Report this Post (/report/comment/678 43) This stuff is environmentally very damaging. What we call "g expense of self-injury of 80". It may be an evil necessity whe poor, but there is no reason to do so now we do not need to. -Huyu, Huyuhuyu

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