Ford, GM, and Stellantis reportedly score rare-earth export licenses from China, avoiding a production disaster for now
Production disaster, we hardly knew ye.
According to reporting by Reuters, China has issued temporary rare-earth export licenses to suppliers of Detroit automakers Ford, GM, and Stellantis.
The new licenses, some of which are said to be valid for six months, should ease up production bottlenecks for the big three automakers.
Global automakers’ supply of rare-earth magnets has been dwindling in recent months as China reportedly substantially limited its export worldwide since April. This has been an issue, since China controls 90% of the world’s supply and the magnets are used essentially all over modern vehicles (motors, windshield wipers, doors, etc). Some US carmakers were even reportedly weighing whether to move electric vehicle motor production to China.
Last month, Ford halted production at one Chicago plant for a week because of the shortage. European auto part makers are said to have similarly paused production lines.
The new licenses, some of which are said to be valid for six months, should ease up production bottlenecks for the big three automakers.
Global automakers’ supply of rare-earth magnets has been dwindling in recent months as China reportedly substantially limited its export worldwide since April. This has been an issue, since China controls 90% of the world’s supply and the magnets are used essentially all over modern vehicles (motors, windshield wipers, doors, etc). Some US carmakers were even reportedly weighing whether to move electric vehicle motor production to China.
Last month, Ford halted production at one Chicago plant for a week because of the shortage. European auto part makers are said to have similarly paused production lines.
