Fears over China's rare metals
2010-10-27 08:23
Berlin - The EU and the US said on Tuesday they were pressing for solutions to concerns China may be exploiting its stranglehold on rare earth metals, crucial in the making of everything from portable phones to wind turbines.
Officials and industry executives in Berlin and Washington warned of severe repercussions from a scarcity of the minerals with magnetic, luminescent and other properties which go into products such as hybrid cars, solar panels and windmills.
The near monopoly China has in producing 97% of the world's supply of rare earths has been well-known among industrial users for years, but came under the international spotlight after reports Beijing halted shipments to Japan over a territorial dispute with Tokyo in September.
A US Department of Energy official said she was not aware of any US renewable energy companies experiencing disruptions in rare earth metal shipments from China, but said firms were worried about shortages developing.
"They're concerned there might be," Diana Bauer, who heads the DOE's Critical Metals Task Force, told reporters at a rare earth metals conference in Washington.
Transition period
"I haven't heard any of my members talking directly about having difficulty getting materials yet," said Keith Delaney, head of the Chicago-based Rare Earth Industry and Technology Association.
But he said US end users recognise that China, intent on utilising rare earth elements in its own clean energy and other high technology industries, "has no incentive to support supply chains outside its own borders".
US consumers were hoping for a "soft-landing" in the transition period during which China reduces supplies while sources in the US, Australia and elsewhere get production going, Delaney added.
The CEO of Molycorp, the chief US producer of rare earth elements, said that after discussions with Chinese officials he believes Beijing will reduce exports under quota reductions announced in July, but not completely restrict supplies.
"I don't believe that China is going to completely embargo the United States and the European Union as relates to rare earths," Molycorp Inc CEO Mark Smith told the conference.
"I do believe however that we're going to see reductions in the export quotas coming out of China," he added.
China roiled the high-tech industry and boosted metals prices in July when it announced it would cut export quotas for rare earth minerals by 72% for the second half of 2010 - continuing a drop in exports of the material since 2008.
Legal action
Frank Hoffmeister, a top aide of European trade chief Karel De Gucht, was asked at a seminar in Berlin whether the EU planned legal action against China over the issue.
"It is clear we are monitoring the situation quite closely. We need to have clear facts," he answered.
Germany's electronics industry has said the market for rare earths had become "critical" due to reported restrictions on exports from China.
German Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said his country was "severely affected when it comes to energy resources and... rare earths which are growing scarce".
"When speculation is rife, you lose the foundation in the economy," he said. "And that is detrimental for the producing industries. Pricing frameworks must remain on our agenda."
Some US consumers of rare earth magnets echoed the German concerns.
"There's going to be a supply crunch, whether it's two years down the road or three years down the road," said Taylor Robinson, an executive of Northern Power Systems, which builds wind mills in Vermont.
Potential threat
Beijing has denied any plans to choke off shipments of the minerals. Chinese state media have criticised foreigners for making "unreasonable" demands on resources China needs for its industrial development.
Washington has called any cut-off in metals, which also have defence and other high-technology applications, a potential threat to the US economy and national security.
US President Barack Obama, whose advisers were studying the economic and security implications of rare earth shortages, could raise the matter with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the G20 meeting in South Korea in November, the White House said.
"If it is something that the security and economic teams think is important... certainly, we wouldn't hesitate to bring it up," said White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs.
US Representative Bart Gordon, chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, urged industry groups and experts to press their senators to move on a bill passed by the House in September that would support domestic production of rare earth metals.
The proposed legislation, intended to foster a US domestic supply chain for the metals, passed the House last month by a 325-98 margin. But it has not cleared the Senate and could languish for months, he warned.
Boosting production
If there is no movement on the measure, "you're going to lose a few months in the first part of next year trying to get up and going and getting something passed and it would be mid-year probably at best" before something was approved, Gordon told the industry forum.
"We really do need to raise the level of interest on this issue and the importance of it both for economic and national security," Gordon said.
Bauer said the Energy Department is expected to release its strategy in December for boosting global production and diversifying supplies of the metals - an important part of the Obama administration's efforts to promote clean energy.
Bauer said the department's plan will look at short-term ways to increase rare earth metal production over the next five years and longer.