EU to press China over rare earths supplies
Thursday, 18 November 2010, 06:42 IST
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Beijing: A European Union envoy said today he will press Chinese officials to maintain exports of rare earths needed by high-tech industry. European companies are worried about Beijing's plans to reduce export quotas, said Matthew Baldwin, the union's director of market access. He was in Beijing for talks with Ministry of Commerce and other officials. "We shall be expressing very clearly our concerns on this issue and stressing the importance of keeping that quota open," Baldwin told reporters. He said he wanted to find out about Chinese export plans for 2011. China has about 30 per cent of global rare earths deposits but accounts for about 97 per cent of production. The United States, Canada and Australia have rare earths but stopped mining them in the 1990s as lower-cost Chinese supplies became available.
Source: PTI
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