demand, page-2

Even though Rare Earths are essential to manufacturers they are consumed in very small amounts. So we have a situation in China and around the world where manufacturers are running down their own invetories until it is absolutely nessery to stock up again. Every factory or manufacturer has a purchasing manager who is in charge of raw material purchases he/she will treat RE prices literally as a bet on any investoment for that company. For them buying RE's at higher prices compared to a rival factory will cause his/her firm to be less competitive. So atm we are seeing not so much a situation where RE's are no longer needed but one where users are waiting of someone to blink. Once inventories have been depleted enough for around 30% of users, all other buyers will have to return thus pushing up prices and causing another round panic buying.