As i see it, this is the new world industrial order, as China...

As i see it, this is the new world industrial order, as China moves to develop downstream industries which use REEs


Raremetal blog Wednesday, February 22, 2012


China aims to speed up rare-earth development



February 21, 2012 (Source: Marketwatch) -- China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Wednesday outlined a plan to speed up development of the nation's rare-earth industry by 2015, setting goals for a range of uses for the strategic materials in new technology.

China has long set its sights on developing domestic manufacturing capability that uses rare earth metals, a collective term for 17 elements essential in high-end technologies.

The nation controls about 95% of the global output of these metals, and has tried to develop downstream industries by strictly limiting exports through quotas.

The government wants to "increase value-added products [and] give full play to China's rare earth resources," the ministry said in a development blueprint published on its website.

In the plan, it set higher output goals for a range of downstream technologies that use these metals.

The government aims to increase the output capacity for permanent magnet materials, a value-added product, by 20,000 metric tons a year.

Other goals in value-added categories include raising output capacity for hydrogen-absorbing alloy powder, which is used in high-performance batteries, by 15,000 tons a year.

China also aims to raise output capacity of luminous materials by 5,000 tons a year, targeting 10,000 tons of rare-earth phosphor production a year by 2015.

In addition, the government has reiterated its goal of enlarging rare-earth strategic stockpiles, though it didn't specify a volume in the blueprint.

The efforts to upgrade manufacturing that uses rare earths will focus on Beijing, Baotou city in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Ganzhou city in Jiangxi province, Liangshan and Leshan in Sichuan province, Longyan in Fujian province, and Ningbo in Zhejiang province, the ministry said.

China has scored some success in relocating more value-added downstream producers to its shores in recent months.

Ferro Corp. (FOE), a U.S. producer of high-tech performance materials, said this month that it has a joint venture agreement with refiner Baotou Jinmeng Rare Earth Co. to supply rare-earth-based compounds for the high-end glass polishing market.

Such products feed the demand for highly-engineered glass panes for smartphones and tablet computers.

China is under pressure to accelerate the development of domestic downstream industries that use rare earths.

Last month, a World Trade Organization appeal panel upheld a ruling that China's export quotas and tariffs on raw materials broke WTO rules. Analysts said the decision adds pressure on China to ease restrictions on rare-earth exports