Subsidies for less rare earths

Japan said Friday that it would offer around 42 billion yen ($513 million) in subsidies designed to slash the nation's reliance on Chinese rare-earth minerals by a third.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will channel 33.1 billion yen ($404 million) into 160 private sector projects, while an additional 8.9 billion yen ($109 million) will be disbursed to other projects later this year.

The recipients of the subsidies will use them to cover part of their investment in developing technologies to reduce rare-earth use, recycle the precious metals and develop alternative resources.

"In the mid- and long-term, we expect a reduction of its use by 10,000 tons a year, compared with 30,000 tons in present demand at home," the ministry said in a statement.

The subsidies are expected to encourage other private sector firms to follow suit, leading to a total of 110 billion yen ($1.3 billion) in capacity investment.

AFP