After the Chinese government assured in October Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “about the export of rare earths,” the country's Commerce Ministry announced this week how it plans to share the wealth in 2011. And the defining words of the rare earths policy are “more for us.”
China will cut the export quotas next year; whereas in 2009 it exported 16,000 tons of these now precious minerals, 2011 will see only 14,500 tons being shipped to international markets. And that figure may chance, if China sees fit, as we advance into 2011.
Knowing about the announcement which was made this week, the US announced, once again, it may complain to the World Trade Organization about the export policy for rare earths.
The battle for the Chinese rare earths is important for several of the world's industries, including (or especially) the automotive one. According to official figures, China currently supplies over 95 percent of materials processed from rare earths, even if two thirds of the world's reserves of such materials are not to be found in the country.
The biggest deposits of lithium can be found in South America, more precisely in Bolivia, Argentina and Chiles. These countries, however, pretty much lack the infrastructure required to mine, process and export the materials.
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