China allows rare earth export to Japanese firm in Malaysia: Ohata

TOKYO, Sept. 28 Kyodo -
Japanese trade minister Akihiro Ohata said Tuesday that China allowed rare
earth minerals to be exported to a Japanese firm in Malaysia a day earlier, but
added he has not obtained information that Japanese-bound exports of these
metals have fully resumed.
As part of efforts to get to the bottom of the situation, which emerged amid
growing tensions between Japan and China over a ship collision row, Finance
Minister Yoshihiko Noda said that Japan sent a letter to China on Monday. The
letter also called on Beijing to handle its customs clearance procedures
appropriately.
While China has denied placing an embargo on the resources used for hybrid cars
and other high-tech products, the Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry
has been told by some trading firms that Chinese exports of rare earths to
Japan, or related procedures, have been halted.
During a regular press conference Tuesday, Ohata referred to the moves seen
toward the Malaysia firm, but added that the government is trying to confirm
the whole situation regarding the rare earth exports.
''We would like to look into the matter quickly,'' Ohata said.
Noting that he had also heard about cases in which exports of items other than
rare earth minerals were being halted, Ohata said that if such a situation were
confirmed he would like to call on China to ''correct'' it.
Later in the day, the trade ministry said it will conduct a questionnaire
survey on about 30 trade firms and companies using rare earth minerals, such as
those related to the car industry, to check whether they are facing export
controls.
The ministry also said it will ask several hundreds of trade, shipping and
other companies whether China is imposing restrictions on customs procedures
for exports and imports of items other than rare earth minerals.
The results of the survey are expected to be presented to China as evidence
that the actual situation is different from what China says.
Ohata also reiterated that it would highly likely be a violation of World Trade
Organization rules if China is specifically targeting Japan over any move to
halt exports of rare earth materials.
China produces more than 90 percent of the global output of rare earth metals.
Neodymium, the raw material for magnets, is a well-known rare earth element.
==Kyodo