Economics: After China's Rare Earth Embargo, a New Calculus

... the unannounced embargo of so-called rare earth minerals [is] ending ...

Despite producing 95 percent of the world's rare earths, China has only 37 percent of the world's proven reserves. Sizable deposits are known to exist in the United States, Canada, Australia, India and Brazil, among other places.

... experts say that any meaningful new production from outside China is at least five years away, and that it will come with its own environmental cost calculus.

The global shortage gives foreign companies a reason to move even more of their rare earth-dependent operations to China, to produce key components for a wide range of products.

For much more, see After China's Rare Earth Embargo, a New Calculus by Keith Bradsher, October 29, 2010 at The New York Times.