TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has concluded that restrictions by China on the export of rare earths were not in line with WTO rules, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The newspaper cited sources within the US, the eurozone and Japan that had complained to the WTO in March, arguing that the Chinese rare earths industry was seeking to benefit improperly from a dominant market position.
The WTO had not yet published its findings, but they are expected by the end of the year.
The WTO did not comment.
Agence France-Presse reported that Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry confirmed the existence of an interim report but that it would not comment on its contents, including the ruling.
Produced mainly in China, rare earths are essential for making high-tech items such as smartphones, tablets and hybrid vehicles, and are also used in automotive catalysts.
Rare-earth elements consist of 17 elements on the periodic table, including 15 elements beginning with atomic number 57 (lanthanum), extending through to number 71 (lutetium), and including the elements yttrium and scandium, which have similar properties.
On July 2, China announced that it would apply a quota for exports of rare earths for the second half of 2013 on the same basis as it applied a quota in the first half of the year.
Rare earths producers’ stocks rose last month on rumours that China would also start buying billions of yuan rare-earth minerals to bolster its strategic reserves.