re <<Imperatives leading to solutions...
New alternatives may ease demand for scarce rare-earth permanent magnets sciencedaily.com
"... Many times, these materials have high proportions of iron or cobalt."
cerium cobalt: CeCo3 and CeCo5. Although cerium is called a rare-earth element, it is very abundant and easy to obtain.>>
(1) interesting, and you are correct, imperatives leads to solutions, and so does anticipation, leads to both, depending on whether one is playing Texas fold'em, checkers, chess, or Go, with or without time limit ;0) Message 31913253
(2) just as team China signalled to team New Zealand by way tourism, Australia by method of coal, and Canada by protocol of canola, china telegraphed to teams Japan and USA on what a real trade war would mean, just as team China's message at the outset of the Korean War, namely war means only one thing, war, irrespective of losses, and would not be engaged lightly American style, but would be called
there are advantages to a transparent and multi-polar world w/ level playing field, and where advantages would arise out of skill at the gaming as opposed to rule-by-making-up-rules
the issue with a player able to dial up and down prices is that competing technologies and sources are less able to dial down and up operational intensity whilst keeping financially solvent
the analogy would be that there is no defence against a bazooka attack in a contested and narrow hall way when time is also of the essence
the world needed saving, and that imperative gave team china the call of duty, enthusiastically engaged, after years of practice, could be one view, unless one is climbing a pole somewhere but looking at one's foothold as opposed to the overarching / broad macro-strategic vista :0) etc etc etc
reuters.com
Breakingviews - China aims rare earth bazooka at trade rivals
Malaysia, July 3, 2014. REUTERS/Sonali Paul
HONG KONG (Reuters Breakingviews) - Beijing is limiting its output of rare earths, according to Adamas Intelligence. That tackles lingering oversupply of the tough-to-mine minerals, but could easily also starve foreign buyers of key ingredients like cerium and neodymium, used in catalysts, electronics and weapons - a drastic trade war escalation that would punish profit margins. An overdue rush to develop new supply outside China, though, will come too late.
The dominance of the rare earths’ market by the People’s Republic encapsulates a lot of what trading partners worry about. The elements, common throughout the earth’s crust but tricky to extract, were perceived as strategic two decades ago by leader Deng Xiaoping, who compared it to the Middle East’s oil bounty. He instructed Chinese state-owned companies to dig deep, and they did - assisted by a horde of smaller private miners that drilled in haste, polluted liberally, and drove prices so low it became uneconomical for many foreign rivals to stay in business.
U.S. Geological Survey data shows China holds around a third of global reserves, and accounted for 80 percent of output last year. The United States imported $150 million worth from the People’s Republic in 2017. This is a worry for security hawks: in 2010 Beijing used its near-monopoly in a trade fight with Japan, halting exports. The application in modern weaponry has the Pentagon fretting too.
Now China could be turning back to its old playbook, with plans to slash production to 45,000 tonnes in the second half of 2018, according to Adamas. Some of that might offset previous excesses, but Adamas argues it won’t leave much for foreign buyers. Meanwhile, the cuts will send prices higher: gravy for Australia’s Lynas, one of the world’s few significant alternative producers, but tough on consuming manufacturers.
Beijing could reward some countries with exports in exchange for concessions. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is in China today, and firms like Panasonic and Toyota are both exposed to rising costs. For U.S. companies it could be more painful. Even with the required economic incentives, it would take years to open new mines elsewhere. Beijing can make its point.
Breakingviews
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