Connect to share and comment

Winner for Nov. 8: How China's rare earth cuts affect industry

The voting is closed.

Rare earths have been in the news this fall, after China dramatically cut exports of these vital raw materials. A member identified as Attentive Reader noted our recent coverage of the issue, and suggested a "where the rubber meets the road" story examining exactly how this is playing out in the real world.

This was a tough article for us to complete. One of the limitations of business reporting is that privately-owned businesses are under no obligation to reveal much of anything about their operations. We searched long and hard for a company willing to divulge how the rare earth shortage was affecting them. Finally, we found a positive story, about a Germany recycler that's venturing into rare earths.

Here's the article we published:

Germany seeks to recycle rare earths to tackle shortage

Attentive Reader suggests:

Hi - you recently had an interesting story about how China is abusing its monopoly on rare earth elements -- which are important to electronics. But the big question is, how exactly is the rare earth shortage affecting companies around the world?
Guest suggests:

What ever happened to the financial crisis in Greece? Did they resolve the issue and is the country on solid financial footing? Does it have any current positive or negative implications for an American considering traveling there?