China more than 90% of the world’s supply of rare earth minerals Related Stories
China has expanded export quotas for rare earth metals, further tightening its grip on the minerals used in a number of high-tech electronics.
From Friday, iron alloys containing more than 10% of rare earths will fall under the export quota, the commerce ministry said in a statement.
Rare earths are a collection of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table.
World manufacturers rely heavily on China for these minerals.
China had already cut exports by about 35% in the first half of 2011.
This has pushed up the price of rare earth metals, used in everything from Ipods and TVs to cars.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.