RARE EARTH

China's State Council has issued a national guideline to promote sustainable and healthy development of the nation's rare earth industry.

Should the spreading economic aftermath of the earthquake in Japan cause us to unravel global supply chains that seem suddenly all too vulnerable to shortages and shutdowns? Adam Smith would say No. The philosophical founding father of globalization would urge us, not to undo our worldwide lines of supply for component parts and raw materials, but to improve them.

China has set its total output of rare earth at 93,800 tonnes this year, 4,600 tonnes more or 5.16 percent higher compared to last year's, the Ministry of Land and Resources said on Thursday.

The rare earth minerals company Molycorp Inc has announced that it has entered into a cooperative research and development agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory.

China's largest metals trader has called for government to consolidate the rare earth industry and nurture competitive domestic firms in the sector, the Xinhua reported today.

China has worked on tougher regulations for rare earth minerals by setting stricter emission limits on miners, which 60% of the local industry would struggle to meet.

The Japanese government and private companies will spend $1.34 billion to curb Japan's dependence on rare-earth imports from China by a third, the Nikkei news report said Friday.

Canada based rare earth mineral company Rare Element Resources is planning to open a strip mine inside a national forest in northeast Wyoming, the Associated Press reported.

Asian stock markets mostly ended higher on Thursday as higher growth forecast for the U.S economy from the Federal Reserve and solid earnings reports buoyed sentiment.

China announced a shake-up of its rare earths industry on Wednesday, vowing reasonable quotas on mining and exports to bring order to the small but strategic sector where its dominance has spooked foreign buyers.

China will soon publish new regulations to increase supervision of the country's rare earth industry in a move that is likely to drastically change the landscape of the sector, the China Securities Journal informed on Wednesday.

Japanese imports of rare earths from China rose six-fold in December from November, reflecting a resumption of trade after Beijing's de-facto ban on shipments halted flows of the minerals for two months since late September.

Yunnan Copper Industry (Group), China's third-biggest producer by capacity, added 100,000 tonnes of annual refining capacity this week in Guangdong province.

Looks like one company has had enough of the rare earth shortages.

The Ministry of Land and Resources of China on Wednesday has brought 11 rare earth mines under states control, in order to improve the protection, utilization of the country's strategic resources and drive up prices of the element in global markets.

China's vice-like grip on world rare earths supply is forcing next generation carmakers to look for alternative technologies that don’t rely on these metals. At the forefront of such efforts is world's largest carmaker Toyota, according to ETF Database.

China's exports of vital rare earth elements used for numerous high-tech goods slipped almost one-tenth last year but the overall value rocketed as quota cuts lifted international prices, data showed on Wednesday.

China said on Tuesday its rare earth exports rose 14.5 per cent in the Jan-Nov period of 2010 as prices more than doubled, with most of the shipments going to Japan, Europe and the United States.

In an annual survey conducted by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, India for the first time topped the list as the most attractive destination, overtaking China.

Japanese researchers at the Kyoto University have broken the rare earth import jinx as they have created a new alloy which resembles rare metal palladium, bringing a sigh of relief to countries depending on Chinese exports of rare earth metals.

The China government may slash export quotas of rare earth mineral by half in 2011, according to China Securities Journal, after Beijing raised international concern by cutting exports of the minerals next year.