Posts Tagged ‘Raw Materials’

Is China Squeezing The Market Of Rare Earths, Minerals That Are Essential For The Military?


A neodymium magnet, commonly used in motors, loudspeakers and other appliances. Neodymium is a rare earth element. ALAMY

China Defends Control of Rare Earth Exports as Move to Protect Environment — Bloomberg

China defended its controls on exports of rare earth after Japanese officials raised concerns about supplies of the raw materials used in the manufacture of products from cell phones to radar.

Restrictions on the rare earth industry will help protect the environment, the state-run Xinhua News Agency cited Chen Deming, China’s commerce minister, as saying yesterday at a media briefing during China-Japan economic talks in Beijing.

Read more ….

My Comment: Many parts of China are the most polluted in he world ….

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Comment: the roots of microcredit

In his latest commentary, Sam Daley Harris touches on the Medal of Freedom that was awarded to Muhammad Yunus. Harris recounts the story of microcredit’s beginnings, and how the same concept of non-profit/non-loss business is spreading into other ventures.

From The Daily Journal is this snippet of Harris’ commentary.

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Mineral Firms ‘Fuel Congo Unrest’

From the BBC:

Western mineral firms are fuelling violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo by failing to check where their raw materials come from, activists say.

Global Witness says companies sourcing minerals used in electronic gadgets are buying them from traders who finance rebel and government troops.

It calls for the UK-based Amalgamated Metal Corporation (AMC) and others to have assets frozen over the issue.

AMC, whose subsidiary Thaisarco sources tin from DR Congo, denies the claims.

The Global Witness report focuses on the troubled region of eastern DR Congo, where various rebel groups and government troops control large parts of the trade in minerals including coltan, cassiterite and gold.

Read more ….

My Comment: These activists are blaming Western firms, but the biggest purchaser of these raw materials are Chinese firms hungry for the raw material that is essential in the production of their electronics.

Factory gate inflation slows down

There has been a fall in prices for petroleum products

The cost of goods leaving UK factories in February rose at the slowest rate for 16 months, figures have shown.

Factory gate inflation fell to 3.1% last month, compared with 3.5% in January, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

That is the lowest annual rate since September 2007. The fall was largely due to a drop in prices for oil and petroleum products, the ONS said.

Input price inflation also eased to 0.5% from 1.5% in January.

The ONS said a 37.8% drop in crude oil prices over the last year was the main reason for the lower prices paid by factories for raw materials.

On Thursday, the Bank of England cut interest rates to a new record low of 0.5%.

The data from the ONS justified the Bank’s course of action, said Lloyds economist Kenneth Broux.

“The outlook is for a period of low interest rates,” he said.

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