A Call for Calm on Rare Earths

With a huge buzz gathering around global trade in rare earth elements, the Periodic Table has perhaps never garnered such interest. But should it?

In the most recent chapter of the rapidly developing rare earth saga, U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Gary Locke is suggesting the issue could come up at a Group of 20 meeting in Korea in November.

Locke’s suggestion comes as the U.S. House of Representatives throws overwhelming support behind U.S. efforts to regain leadership in the development of rare earth elements. A U.S. Senate subcommittee has looked at how a U.S. row with China over, for instance, the Dalai Lama might affect supplies of elements used in magnets.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says an economic priority for 2010 should be “substantial” federal support to develop the industry, including loans.

The 17 rare earth elements used in high-technology applications like wind turbines and hard drives, plus military items like rudder controls, can spark emotions in ways not even gold can. The reason: China mines and processes nearly all of them, raising concerns among some commentators that major industries could be held hostage by Beijing.

A survey by Japan’s Trade Ministry found some companies had trouble last month importing rare earth minerals from China amid a territorial dispute between Tokyo and Beijing. Japan’s government said it will continue pressing the issue and that its findings contradict Beijing’s past statements.

Given all the hand-wringing around rare earths, a message from the Heritage Foundation may be a surprise: steady now.

“There are legitimate concerns over Chinese dominance in rare earth minerals but the near-frenzied nature of some of some assessments is unjustified,” writes Derek Scissors, a research fellow for Asian Economic Policy at the conservative think tank. “The long-term problems stemming from Chinese control will be resolved by the market; only the short-term problems are potentially threatening, and those remain vague.”

The commentary notes that as China pushes up prices of minerals it controls, more production in countries like the U.S. will be encouraged – as is already happening. Higher prices will also inspire efforts to create alternatives to rare earth elements – another trend underway.

Colorado’s Molycorp, which claims to be the largest producer of rare earths outside China, is working on re-opening a mine in California, while Australia’s Lynas Corp recently announced it has a new contract to supply the minerals to Japan.

Even as China announces new rare earth pursuits, including a new deposit in central Hubei Provinve this week, it has stressed its controls, including export quotas, reflect a long term strategy aimed at sustainability. “What we pursue is to satisfy not only the domestic demand but also the global demand of rare earths. We should not only stand from the present, but should also look forward to the future,” Premier Wen Jiabao said Wednesday at the sixth China-EU Business Summit in Brussels.

“In the long-term development of rare-earth products, the next few years will just be a blip,” Scissors writes.

–James T. Areddy follow him on Twitter @jamestareddy