Brussels, 18/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - In addition to the export restrictions imposed by China on rare earths, Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht has warned of the systemic risk of a lack of raw materials.
The lack of raw materials has become a systemic risk for the whole global economy, De Gucht said in Brussels at a hearing organised by the EPP Group in the European Parliament on Thursday 18 November. “No country possesses all the raw materials it needs. Everybody is affected as this is a systemic risk. We need to find a global solution, but there is no quick fix,” he stated.
The lack of raw materials, especially of rare earths, a group of 17 minerals used by the electronics and automotive industries in a wide range of high tech products, has put the entire international community on the alert over recent months, and especially since China, which holds 97% of the world's known rare earth reserves, has been suspected of extending the embargo on exports to Japan, imposed since the diplomatic crisis with Tokyo at the start of September, to the United States and the EU.
De Gucht said on Thursday that he had sent letters to a number of Chinese ministers expressing the EU's concern and indicating that sure, regular supply had become an issue central to the EU-United States dialogue.
He also said that the EU was suffering from a lack of cotton and wood, in addition to rare earths. The Commission is, then, bringing pressure to bear on India and Russia for them to end their export restrictions - suspension of cotton imports in the case of the first and export taxes for the second.
To reduce Europe's dependence on raw materials imported from third countries, De Gucht suggested that the EU re-open a number of mines and support rare earth extraction in Greenland, where up to 25% of world reserves could be located. In addition to local extraction, the commissioner recommended closer links with the countries which hold large reserves of raw materials. Finally, De Gucht called for recycling technology to be improved. (E.H./transl.rt)