It has been for a week ago, the Japanese hybrid car industry got hot tub worm. The reason, the supply of minerals becoming the main ingredient electric car engine stopped completely. Group of rare minerals in the world, consisting of 17 species, is the most widely produced Chinese. Minerals such as neodymium and samarium are needed for materials and missile batteries.
Japan and the United States are a big consumer of Chinese products. Countries producing goods and automotive electronics are very dependent on these minerals. You see, this mineral is the basic material of electronic parts for iPods, energy saving lamp, electric automobile engine, as well as sonar devices warships and submarines, sight cannon, tanks, and missiles.
The Chinese government denied reports that the cessation of supply of minerals is to relieve pressure on the Japanese fishing boat captain, Zhan Qixiong. Since early September, the two Asian economic giants are fighting because of that incident, the Chinese fishing boat crashed into the two Japanese patrol boats in the Senkaku Islands. "There is no blockade, all running as usual," the official said the Ministry of Commerce of China, Chen Rongkai.
Dudley Kingsnorth, Executive Director of Industrial Minerals of Australia, became the first to spread the news. "Many companies are concerned about stopping it," he said. In Japan, the hardest hit is the company's hybrid cars, like Toyota and Mitsubishi. Toyota Prius, which it is rampant in today's market, it takes at least one kilogram of minerals to every part of the engine.
China is the largest exporter of world demand for rare minerals because those are 99 percent of this mineral mining in the country. At least 93 percent of world supply comes from China. These mineral groups are always united in radioactive elements uranium and thorium. This mineral separation of radioactive elements necessary skill, and it makes the process expensive. But China can sell it cheap.
Japan can not report the termination of this rare mineral supply to the World Trade Organization (WTO). After all, the wily China set for this problem is not seen as an embargo or boycott, but it is simply a matter of administration at the port of shipment.
After all, in America, the case was made of Science and Technology Committee of the U.S. Congress requesting the discussion of specific legislation to allows Americans to produce this return. Previously, Americans have this mineral mining in Mountain Pass, California. The mine was closed in 2002 due to be considered environmentally unfriendly. It was not enough with that, the Pentagon also asked Congress Defence Committee to discuss the U.S. military dependence on China's mineral supply.
During this, Uncle Sam depend on Japan produces magnetic materials and materials-contained components for armaments. When Japan ran out of stock and it was unable to produce, "America will largely depend on China for imports of these minerals," said Congressman, Jeff Green.
Yophiandi (New York Times, Washington Post)
