Terres rares
Japan urges China to lift dual-use goods export ban over Taiwan remarks
Rapporté par l'IA Image générée par IA
China's commerce ministry announced on January 7 an immediate ban on exports of dual-use goods to Japan. Japan's foreign ministry protested the move as 'extremely regrettable' and demanded its withdrawal. The measure appears to be retaliation for remarks on Taiwan by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Shipments of permanent magnets from China to the US totalled 994 tonnes in January and February, down nearly 22.5 per cent year on year, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs. This marks the seventh consecutive month of decline, while exports to the EU rose 28.4 per cent to 4,775 tonnes.
Rapporté par l'IA
Japan is speeding up a decade-old plan to extract rare earths from the deep seabed, driven by efforts to reduce reliance on Chinese supplies. A state-owned vessel is set to return to port this month after installing equipment in Japanese waters near a coral atoll 2,000 kilometers from Tokyo, with tests to pull metal-bearing mud potentially starting as early as February 2027. The initiative underscores the country's focus on economic security.
L’Union européenne et l’Afrique du Sud ont signé un accord de coopération dans l’extraction et le traitement des minéraux et métaux. La présidente de la Commission européenne Ursula von der Leyen a souligné le besoin de ces matières premières pour faire avancer la transition énergétique. L’accord vise à réduire la dépendance de l’Europe vis-à-vis de la Chine.