Black Markets for Rare Earth Metals - 0 views
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Colin Bennett on 16 Jun 09That "evidence" relates to an article published by The Australian on May 28 which stated, "In Japan, the world's biggest importer of rare-earth metals, more than 10,000 tonnes per year about a fifth of the country's total annual consumption are thought to enter the country through a thriving black import network without which Japan would already be in a severe supply crisis, a senior government official said." We believe a black market exists, in this particular case, because of several actions taken by the Chinese government (by the way, the RE (rare earths) black market in Japan receives its supply from China). The biggest reason a black market exists however, relates to mining quotas and export restrictions. In addition, China has taken an active international M&A stance to make strategic investments.