In the wake of continuing international anger over Chinese rare earths export quotas, global electronics manufacturer Hewlett Packard told IM that it is not worried about rare earths supplies or pricing.
Klaus Hieronymi, chairman of the Environmental Board for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Hewlett Packard (HP) said that end users in the office electronics business had little reason to be concerned.
“Rare earths currently account for 0.5% - around $0.30 - of the cost of an HP laptop,” Hieronymi said. “Even if raw material prices rise by 50%, that only means we will be looking at $0.45 total cost.”
The quantities of rare earths that go...