Chinese 10 Rare Earth Exports Confirmed, METI

Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Akihiro Ohata said at press conference after Cabinet meeting on Friday METI confirmed customs clearance or shipping and departure for additional rare earth 11 cargos to Japan from China by Thursday while METI already reported shipping and departure on 10 cargos on November 30. He said Chinese government tries to normalize the pending rare earth export but he tries to keep watching the procedure carefully and keep negotiating with Chinese authority when the shipment is still delayed for some cargoes.

METI’s director on nonferrous metals division Tsutomu Murasaki explained on the additional 11 cargoes METI confirmed shipping and departure for 9 cargoes and customs clearance for 2 cargoes. He said the process is improving when some new cargoes, which were applied after Japanese and Chinese ministerial meeting at APEC in November, cleared customs in recent days. He said METI plans to require Chinese government to secure sufficient rare earth export quota in 2011 when the resource is vital for supply chain from raw materials to parts and products while Chinese government indicates lower export quota.