This article will be published in IM October 2011 as part of the Critical Materials for Green Energy special.
Ever since the word ‘crisis’ was first muttered by those keeping an eye on the looming supply-demand disparities in the global rare earths industry, there has been much talk on how it can be solved. China’s dominance in rare earths mining coupled with its reluctance to meet demand outside its borders have driven prices sky high and left supply shortages in key high-tech industries. While there are a multitude of factors that have led to today’s supply crisis, the main recipient of Western finger pointing has been China’s annual export quotas. Although China raised its export quota for the second half of 2011 (year on year), the reality is that global supply will be squeezed even further for the remainder of this year. Beijing for the first time included rare earth ferro alloys in...