How Beijing Cornered The Rare Earths Market

China Digs It: How Beijing Cornered the Rare Earths Market -- Damien Ma, Foreign Affairs

In September 2010, after Japan arrested a Chinese fishing boat captain in disputed waters in the East China Sea, Beijing allegedly retaliated by holding back shipments to Tokyo of rare earths, a group of 17 elements used in high-tech products. Arcane names such as cerium, dysprosium, and lanthanum -- elements that populate the bottom of the periodic table and whose unique properties make them ideal materials in the batteries that power iPhones and electric vehicles -- suddenly commanded global attention. It mattered little whether Beijing actually carried through with the threat (reports are murky), the damage was already done: The world had awoken to the fact that overreliance on China for rare-earths supplies could put the international high-tech supply chain at risk.

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My Comment: Bottom line .... it was (and still is) all about the money, and China's determination to get more for the products that it manufactures. But like all things that involves the market place .... the Chinese may have the advantage now .... but as costs escalate and supply consistently is in doubt .... China's position may just as quickly change.