China halts mineral exports to Japan

BEIJING, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Industry officials said China unofficially banned the export of critical minerals to Japan as tensions over a detained Chinese fishing captain escalated.

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao pledged Thursday there would be further repercussions over Japan's detention of the trawler captain, whose boat struck two Japanese coast guard ships in disputed waters that China claims to own but are patrolled by Japan, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Chen Rongkai denied there was a ban on exports of rare earth minerals such as didymium oxide, of which China is by far the world's leading supplier.

But Dudley Kingsnorth, executive director of the Industrial Minerals Co. of Australia, said executives in the mineral industry had been told China had set an export ban in place that would last at least until October.

Kingsnorth said the ban was contingent on the fate of the Chinese fishing captain.

The ban could affect production of automobiles, electronic appliances and guided-missile systems, the Times reported.

"By stopping the shipments, they're disrupting commercial contracts, which is regrettable and will only emphasize the need for geographic diversity of supply," Kingsnorth said.