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Japan & India for joint effort in developing rare earth minerals

Lankan Ranger

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Japan & India for joint effort in developing rare earth minerals

Japan on Wednesday proposed “joint exploration with India for the development of rare earth minerals.” Tokyo “would like to make progress” in this domain.

Disclosing this, Japan's spokesman Hidenobu Sobashima and other officials told The Hindu that Tokyo also affirmed its commitment to “the steady implementation” of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and the related Dedicated Freight Corridor.

These issues figured in the talks that Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma held with Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara after they signed the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in Tokyo. Mr. Sharma proposed a two-way trade target of $25 billion by 2014, a doubling of the pre-CEPA level. The economic pact will come into force after the completion of national procedures.

It was not immediately clear whether the sensitive issue of a Japan-India civil nuclear deal was discussed when Mr. Sharma called on Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan. However, Mr. Kan told Mr. Sharma that “Japan has the infrastructure and the technology which are needed by India” at its current stage of development.

Mr. Sharma briefed Mr. Kan on the DMIC progress and suggested that Japan join India for a matching contribution towards the proposed revolving fund of $9 billion for this project, an Indian official said later from Tokyo. India was now in the process of mobilising $4.5 billion in this regard. India's Ambassador Alok Prasad and Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar assisted Mr. Sharma during his meetings with the Japanese ministers including his counterpart Banri Kaieda.

Describing the CEPA as New Delhi's most ambitious economic pact so far, an Indian official said the country's sensitive sectors “are fully protected.” Agriculture, fruits, spices, wheat, basmati rice, edible oils, wines and spirits and also certain categories of industrial products in the auto and auto-parts sector were cited.

Significant access to the Japanese market was now possible for Indian textiles, petrochemicals, chemical products, jewellery and cement. Japan would now extend its own “national treatment” in respect of Indian generic medicines.

Greater access to Japan would now be available for Indian contractual suppliers, accountants, researchers, tourist guides, management consultants, computer scientists and engineers.

India's existing policy on foreign investments was the norm adopted in this CEPA, while New Delhi would go by its national laws in honouring its commitment to intellectual property rights in this document.

The Hindu : Business / Economy : Japan for joint effort in developing rare earth minerals
 
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Does it have something to do with the recent China - Japan confrontation on the same issue?

Could certainly be a factor.

And you guys are welcome to the rare eath industry. It destroys the local environment, and is completely unprofitable.

I think China should outsource as much rare earth production as possible. We should keep just enough to fuel our domestic industries, and no more.
 
Could certainly be a factor.

And you guys are welcome to the rare eath industry. It destroys the local environment, and is completely unprofitable.

I think China should outsource as much rare earth production as possible. We should keep just enough to fuel our domestic industries, and no more.

Meh, we're anyways destroying our local environment with our mining mafia. At least it would be a bit more profitable this way.

And it makes sense for Japan to have multiple suppliers for the same products.
 
Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) will lead to new industrial revolution in India after IT sector. I think they should focus on eastern for Delhi-Kolkata and Kolkata-Bangalore corridors. Specially smaller and less developed states like Bihar has a growth of around 12%, we should take advantage of it.
 
I knew it before..
Japanese need constant and stable source of rare earth materials and good strategic partner...

I have a feeling that nuclear deal with japanese will be holed soon
 
India revs up rare earth production to join big league
In a few months India will find its way back on the global rare earth (RE) production map when its 10,000 tonnes Monazite processing plant in Odisha commences production.

“If everything goes as planned, the Odisha plant will be commissioned by December. We will carry out dry runs, and hopefully, start production early next year,” said RN Patra, CMD, Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL).

The plant — set up with an investment of Rs140 crore — is expected to produce 5,000 tonnes of RE oxides. “From nil production, we would be doing 4% of global production,” said Dr Patra. Around 2,250 tonnes of it will be separated at IREL’s Aluva facility in Kerala for domestic consumption and the rest will be exported.

But a major worry for IREL is competitive pricing. In 2004, cheap Chinese supply edged it out of the market. “The government realises this. Pricing is currently under discussion,” Dr Patra added.

Sources said there is steady progress on another 12,000 tonnes Monazite processing plant near Vizag, being set up with Toyota’s help. It is expected to yield high purity RE oxides, including Neodymium, that is used in permanent magnets.

Last month, China, for the first time since 2005, announced a 2.7% increase in its RE exports quota as compared to previous year, thus allowing a total of 30,996 metric tonnes in 2012. But, that may not make much difference since Chinese exporters haven’t anyway fully utilised export quotas in the past years — attributed to a slump in demand because of high prices, and smuggling of RE’s in China. Plus, global RE companies are now consciously reducing their dependence on Chinese RE’s.
US-based Molycorp Inc is reviving its Mountain Pass mine in California that shut down in 2002. The company’s projected production in 2012 is between ‘8,000 and 10,000 metric tonnes’. By the end of 2013, it expects to have a capacity of up to ‘40,000 metric tonnes per year’.

Lynas Corporation that owns the other big global RE asset — Mt Weld mine in Australia — is on the verge of starting production. Lynas has set up a RE separation facility in Gebeng, Malaysia. The plant is expected to supply 11,000 tonnes in its first year, with the target of reaching 22,000 tonnes. Its scheduled start has, however, been delayed because of opposition from political parties over radioactivity concerns.

RE production is also being revived in South Africa, Vietnam, Canada, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Center for Techno-Economic Mineral Policy Options (C-TEMPO) — a think tank under the ministry of mines, says Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, Malaysia, Brazil, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Norway, Greece, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Madagascar, Mozambique and Egypt — are also producing RE’s.

“Most recently, it was discovered that Afghanistan may have large deposits of RE, estimated to be worth $89 billion,” said C-TEMPO.
A few weeks back, the Canadian government made a proposal to a visiting Indian ministry of mines team for prospecting REs in Canada. The proposal is being examined by the Atomic Minerals Directorate.

IREL is reported to be under an agreement with Japan’s Toyota Tsusho to supply 6,000 tonnes of RE oxides. Japan’s JOGMEC is also learnt to be partnering with India to explore and process REs.
Following a meeting (New Delhi, 2011), the Indian and Japanese PMs had ‘decided’ that their enterprises would jointly undertake “production and export of REs.” Sources said, negotiations at the diplomatic level have picked up.

Japan has been one of the worst hit by China’s export restrictions. Masaru Sato, assistant secretary, Japan’s foreign ministry told DNA that in 2010, 82 per cent of Japan’s RE imports came from China.

Joint development of RE’s is a “win-win economic cooperation,” Sato said, indicating that Japan would contribute technology, and India would supply RE’s that will help Japan ‘diversify’ its RE sources and maintain a “stable long term supply.”

The EU may also be exploring its options with India. “As part of the Raw Materials initiative, the EU maintains dialogues with resource rich countries across the world. EU companies will be interested in purchasing supplies from a variety of countries. As regards India, the EU is currently negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with India, where rules on both imports and exports of goods are discussed,” John Clancy, EU’s trade spokesman, told DNA through e-mail.
India revs up rare earth production to join big league - India - DNA
 

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