Posted on 09/29/2010 7:32:57 AM PDT by blam
America Will Lose A Trade War With China Because It Desperately Needs Rare Earth Metals
Vincent Fernando, CFA
Sep. 29, 2010, 9:46 AM
Image: www.industrialmineralscorp.com.au
If there's one thing the latest political spat between Chinese and Japan has exposed, it's China's massive control of the global rare earths market.
At the Money Game we've previously discussed China's near-monopoly over the rare earths used in all kinds of modern technology, including many types of U.S. military hardware.
As tensions flared over Japan's detention of a Chinese ship captain, and the China's detention of Japanese soon after, Japanese companies reported that rare earth shipments from China were being delayed or blocked. The central Chinese government has denied the reports, but it's pretty clear by now that some sort of retaliatory action happened even if it wasn't a policy decision given substantial concern from Japan. Local Chinese players on the ground might have decided to take it upon themselves to punish Japan with delayed rare earth exports, even if the central government didn't want them to do it.
It's huge a wake up call for Japan and other nations around the world, including the U.S., because many parts of the modern technology economy are dependent on rare earths.
The problem is that while rare earths production can be developed in many other parts of the world, (The U.S. actually has an abundant amount of rare earths, it's just not mined currently) in the short-term almost nothing can be done to remove China's choke hold over this niche of the technology supply chain. It takes time to get new mines up and running.
Thus in the case of Japan, this harsh reality means they simply have to capitulate and keep China happy, because the economic costs
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(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Washington D.C. owning ANY land anywhere is obscene.. and flies in the face of original intent.. Teddy Roosevelt was (you see) a Progressive.. just like Wilson..
Many strategic stockpiles were sold during the Clinton administration.
Rare earth metals are used for things like specialty alloys, which are used for all sorts of things, both military and otherwise. You can't just "find alternatives" for those -- instead, you need to find a different source, or come up with different alloys (a much more difficult task).
FWIW, Africa used to be the main source for those metals, along with Russia. So China isn't really the only source -- they're just the ones who currently have market share.
“The only inhibiting factors are “residual radioactivity” in the mine sites”
Wellll, then getting those mines running here in the USA shouldn’t be a issue at all. Just 2 or 3 weeks to clear it with the EPA. And if there’s one thing i think when i think “Obama”? I think mining, (radioactive mining) and doing whatever it takes to support American industry! /
‘The U.S. actually has an abundant amount of rare earths, it’s just not mined currently’———
Gee, would that be like having twice the amount of gas and oil as Saudi Arabia, and not being allowed by government to use it because government and EPA say NO?
I heard of them over 40 years ago...... ;-)
“residual radioactivity”
I’m not familiar with this, can you expand?
They do, but they put no restrictions on, say, cobalt-samarium magnets. Only on cobalt and samarium. Need to build a wind turbine or hybrid car motor? You need Co-Sm magnets.
“most of the discussion is on what you do with the so-called “heavy sands” after you separate out the rare earths. The development of a thorium reactor will solve that part.”
Gotta hand it to you, you sure have the dope on this topic. But im starting to understand how difficult the process would be here with our environmentalists. Mine a product with a radioactive by-product,, and then get a reactor licensed to deal with it.
And do you realize the jobs implied in just that one post? The mines, the mine equipment manufacturers, the reactor builders, the reactor operators,,etc etc. Our nation is being raped by Obama and the environmentalists. It is probably almost impossible to calculate how many jubs we have don;t have here in America because of them.
November.
Rare Earth is coming back? YAAAY!................
Rare earths turn out to be residual byproducts of the radioactive decay of thorium. Sometimes there’s enough thorium left in the ore that you have to be special extra cautious what you do with the tailings.
Sooner or later I believe the lawsuits will be swept away in the name of National Defense if things start to go to hell.
Can’t make JDAM packages without SmCo magnets.
“BS, we depend on rare earth minerals because we need to.”
Well, we can certainly dump the hybrid cars that are helping drain the supply with their batteries.
Still, they've created a kind of an environmental mess so they are really cutting back for the next decade or so while they clean up their mines, extraction processes, and mine tailings.
It all makes sense ~ even the Chinese have problems with radioactivity.
What a load of crap. 15 minutes and Google will show you that the only reason China owns the rare earth market is because they undercut everyone’s price in the 1990’s, and that there’s lots of these ores in Brazil and even Mountain Pass, California.
“but they put no restrictions on, say, cobalt-samarium magnets. Only on cobalt and samarium. Need to build a wind turbine or hybrid car motor? You need Co-Sm magnets.”
HA,, the joke is on them! How quaint, protectibg their local economy, looks like they’ve never heard of free trade! Watch what happens to them as their factory corners the market,,,
Seriously, they know we won’t mine in any serious way. Barky just closed HUGE areas of the NM and AZ to uranium mining. And ever notice, if we protect our industry or markets, the free traders scream. But if our free trade partners do it to us, they are silent. One way free trade isn’t free trade. It’s a bad marriage,,,
Sometimes we assemble the Chinese components here, other times we let the Chinese put them together first before exporting.
“The U.S. actually has an abundant amount of rare earths, it’s just not mined currently.”
And why the hell not? Oh, I forgot....
United Mine Workers
Environmental Protection Agency
Federal Regulations (which were enacted by Congressmen bribed by the Chinese)
Trial Lawyers
NIMBY’s
A nation rich in resources that refuses to use them. How foolish.
As I been saying for over a year now, American ‘invests’ in welfare checks, food stamps, clunkers, empty houses,... while China buys up the energy supplies and rare earth’s and metals needed to produce anything. That is because the Keynesian religion worshiped by Washington says that consumers (ie really voters) are what drives economic prosperity, not the producers.
To show you how insane this economic theory is it's like saying that it is not the Farmer that is important for growing the food that he sells, nor those that make the equipment or fertilizer he needs(that Jim Rogers told us to invest in) , but it is the locusts that are the key for creating demand by eating his crops (here in MD it is the stink bug destroying fruit.) The theory says that the more locusts attack his crops, the more farming jobs are created planting new crops to meet the new demand.
All it’d take to remove China’s chokehold is to build our own mines.
That sounds like an invitation to start following the money trails running between the ChiComs and environmental obstructionist groups.
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