Rare Earth Industry on the Upswing as China Continues to Tighten Supply of Rare Earth Metals
NEW YORK, NY, Apr 23, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX News Network) -- Rare Earth stocks have been gaining attention this year as China's
supply constraints have forced countries to file a complaint with the
World Trade Organization. The increasingly high prices and tightening
supply chain have been a major problem for the U.S. as the metal is
crucial for manufacturing popular products such as disk drives,
hybrid cars and mobile phones. Rare-earth specialists speculate
Chinese domestic demand to catch up with supply around 2015 leaving
the U.S. with a huge shortfall of the metal.
The U.S., EU, and Japan less than a month ago moved in on the WTO to
challenge China's rare earth export policies. They complained that
China is illegally choking off exports of rare earth metals in
attempts to hold down prices for their domestic manufacturers and in
turn force technology manufacturers to relocate facilities to China.
China currently supplies 97 percent of the world's rare earth despite
holding only 30 percent of global rare earth deposits.
In response to the complaint China has set up a rare earth industry
association. Gan Yong, President of the Chinese Society of Rare
Earths, will be president of the new association who claims the body
will help to "form a reasonable price mechanism."
Not over yet...