> Let us assume that demand for EVs does indeed modestly take off
> worldwide. Access to materials, including rare earth metals, will be
> critical. Interesting (seehttp://www.newsweek.com/id/215544)

> "You're not alone if you can't name any of these rare-earth minerals.
> Words like yttrium, holmium, lanthanum, and thulium don't exactly roll
> off the tongue. All you have to know is that China has a near
> stranglehold on such ores, currently producing 95 percent of the
> world's supply and claiming about 60 percent of known reserves within
> its borders, mostly in the region of Inner Mongolia. The region's vice
> governor, Zhao Shuanglian, declared in early September that China
> planned to streamline the domestic rare-earth industry, impose export
> controls, and establish a national reserve mechanism. "We're not
> taking a short-term view of just trying to prop up rare-earth prices,"
> he maintained. ...

> ... these 15 metallic elements happen to be essential in many emerging
> green technologies. They go into electric vehicles ... China has
> already moved dramatically to curb export quotas for rare earths ... "

> Current commodity prices and their drops and rises are one thing and
> will play heavily on the magnitude of short term profits (especially
> in the low margin high volume lines that still represent a large
> amount of CBAK's sales, including those to be made in India), but long
> term, rightly or wrongly, China's control over these resources may be
> key for companies like CBAK as demand increases.