Vietnam to help Japan on rare earths
Monday, 1 November 2010
HANOI, Oct 31 (AFP): Vietnam will help to supply Japan with rare earth minerals used in high-tech products, leaders of the two countries said, as Japan looks to diversify supply after a spat with key provider China.
"Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung announced that Vietnam has decided to have Japan as a partner for exploration, mining, development, and separation and production of rare earth minerals in the country," the Vietnamese leader and Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan said in a joint statement after talks Sunday.
Japan has said shipments of rare earths from China were blocked during a diplomatic row sparked by the arrest of a Chinese trawlerman in disputed waters.
Japan's stockpile of the minerals could be exhausted by March or April without fresh imports from China, officials have said.
China, which controls more than 95 per cent of the global market, has repeatedly denied it curbed exports in retaliation over the dispute, but all 31 Japanese companies handling the minerals have reported disruption to shipments.
Rare earths -- a group of 17 elements -- are used in products ranging from flat-screen televisions to lasers and hybrid cars.
Tokyo said last week that India has agreed to provide a stable supply of rare earth minerals to Japan, and Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said Wednesday that his country and the United States will cooperate to diversify the sources of rare earth imports.
"Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung announced that Vietnam has decided to have Japan as a partner for exploration, mining, development, and separation and production of rare earth minerals in the country," the Vietnamese leader and Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan said in a joint statement after talks Sunday.
Japan has said shipments of rare earths from China were blocked during a diplomatic row sparked by the arrest of a Chinese trawlerman in disputed waters.
Japan's stockpile of the minerals could be exhausted by March or April without fresh imports from China, officials have said.
China, which controls more than 95 per cent of the global market, has repeatedly denied it curbed exports in retaliation over the dispute, but all 31 Japanese companies handling the minerals have reported disruption to shipments.
Rare earths -- a group of 17 elements -- are used in products ranging from flat-screen televisions to lasers and hybrid cars.
Tokyo said last week that India has agreed to provide a stable supply of rare earth minerals to Japan, and Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said Wednesday that his country and the United States will cooperate to diversify the sources of rare earth imports.