Enter The Dragon
Sorry, not the dragon you were thinking of. This dragon is China.
I read an article today that is leading me to see a disturbing trend. It was in a chemical industry trade magazine, and the topic was about how cuts in exports of a fluorine-bearing mineral ore (fluorspar) from China is hurting industries that need fluorine-containing chemicals. (There are more of them than you realize.)
http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/cen/88/i41/html/8841bus1.html
It seems that about 10 years ago, China started flooding the international market with this ore at very cheap prices. Naturally companies that use this ore started buying the cheaper Chinese ore, which drove most other producers out of business. Most mines outside of China closed.
Then, about two years ago, China suddenly placed strict limits on how much ore can be exported. Industries that need the ore can't get it, and prices are skyrocketing. If companies want to make products that require fluorine compounds, the only way to do it is to have the products made in China and export the finished products. Thus, China is ensuring that it will continue to draw manufacturing away from the rest of the world.
One case does not make a trend, but China is also doing the exact same thing with ores for rare earth elements. The rare earths are critical for most electronics as well as solar panels, batteries for hybrid cars, and other industries of the future. And it's not a fast or simple thing to re-open the mines that were closed when China dumped under-priced ore on the market.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/11/the-challenges-of-restarting-us-rare-earth-metal-production/66310/
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/08/31/pm-rare-earth-minerals-from-china-are-rarer/
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/10/28/china-urged-to-clarify-rare-earth-mineral-policy-/
I'm sure this is happening for other natural resources, but I haven't run across many articles yet. There are 14 minerals mentioned in this article:
http://greenworldinvestor.com/2010/06/20/eu-warns-of-shortage-of-of-rare-earth-minerals-even-as-china-tightens-control/
The good news is that mines in other countries are moving to try to make up for the reduced exports from China (high prices make it attractive), but it will take time and this still serves as a cautionary tale about relying too much on natural resources from one country.
I read an article today that is leading me to see a disturbing trend. It was in a chemical industry trade magazine, and the topic was about how cuts in exports of a fluorine-bearing mineral ore (fluorspar) from China is hurting industries that need fluorine-containing chemicals. (There are more of them than you realize.)
http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/cen/88/i41/html/8841bus1.html
It seems that about 10 years ago, China started flooding the international market with this ore at very cheap prices. Naturally companies that use this ore started buying the cheaper Chinese ore, which drove most other producers out of business. Most mines outside of China closed.
Then, about two years ago, China suddenly placed strict limits on how much ore can be exported. Industries that need the ore can't get it, and prices are skyrocketing. If companies want to make products that require fluorine compounds, the only way to do it is to have the products made in China and export the finished products. Thus, China is ensuring that it will continue to draw manufacturing away from the rest of the world.
One case does not make a trend, but China is also doing the exact same thing with ores for rare earth elements. The rare earths are critical for most electronics as well as solar panels, batteries for hybrid cars, and other industries of the future. And it's not a fast or simple thing to re-open the mines that were closed when China dumped under-priced ore on the market.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/11/the-challenges-of-restarting-us-rare-earth-metal-production/66310/
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/08/31/pm-rare-earth-minerals-from-china-are-rarer/
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/10/28/china-urged-to-clarify-rare-earth-mineral-policy-/
I'm sure this is happening for other natural resources, but I haven't run across many articles yet. There are 14 minerals mentioned in this article:
http://greenworldinvestor.com/2010/06/20/eu-warns-of-shortage-of-of-rare-earth-minerals-even-as-china-tightens-control/
The good news is that mines in other countries are moving to try to make up for the reduced exports from China (high prices make it attractive), but it will take time and this still serves as a cautionary tale about relying too much on natural resources from one country.