Excerpt from The Kipplinger Letter, Oct. 9. 2009: TRADE ISSUES:
Washington is worried about China's grip on some scare, critical metals: Terbium, dysprosium, thorium, erbium, yttrium, and others. For the past decade, China has been aggressively acquiring rare-earth mines located around the world and now accounts for between 90% to 100% of production of a dozen or so metals. In recent years, China has also cut its rare-earth exports and increased domestic use. So U.S. policymakers are mulling resurrecting a strategic materials stockpile, most of which was sold off years ago following the Cold War's end. Only small amounts of rare earths would have to be acquired, but many are costly. For example, terbium... used in avionics and radar systems...sells for about $150 a pound on the open market. The Defense Dept. is also likely to push for exploration and mining, in promising spots in South Africa, Mongolia, Paraguay, Greenland and New Guinea. The U.S. will try to weaken China's dominance, challenging its export curbs as the WTO and negotiating new-acquisition limits with Australia, Argentina, etc. --- Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
