As resource-hungry China scours the world for crude oil and natural gas supplies, it has managed to corner the global market for a group of obscure metals used to make iPods, wind farms and electric cars.
The mainland supplies at least 95 percent of the world's rare earths - 17 chemical elements with names such as praseodymium and yttrium - essential for a wide range of high-tech devices and green technologies.
China, which has long recognized the value of these metals, is tightly controlling the supply of these vital natural resources.
"China's goal is to create jobs in China and create goods in China," said Jack Lifton, a US- based independent rare earths analyst.
"We need to start producing these metals [in the United States] as we did in the past. If we don't do that, China will be the only country manufacturing devices using rare earths by the year 2015."
AFP
News
Discussions
Resources
Members
As resource-hungry China scours the world for crude oil and natural gas supplies, it has managed to corner the global market for a group of obscure metals used to make iPods, wind farms and electric cars.
