Ford has difficulties to stock up on rare earthly magnets, Jim Farley, executive director of the automobile manufacturer, said Friday, Bloomberg News in an interview.
China, which controls more than 90% of the global rare earth processing capacity, imposed new export licenses standards in April, which restricted the supply to Western manufacturers of all types of products, from cars and combat planes to appliances.
Automobile manufacturers, especially those centered on electric vehicles, are among the largest industrial consumers in rare earths.
China granted temporary export licenses to rare earth suppliers of the three main American car manufacturers, including Ford, earlier this month, according to a Reuters report.
However, Farley declared that the company still has difficulties.
“It’s a day to day,” Farley said. “We have had to close factories. We are up to date.”
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Ford suspends production of some models due to rare earth’s shortage
The company had previously suspended the production of its SUV Explorer in its Chicago plant for a week in May due to rare earth’s shortage.
Ford shares fell about 1% in morning operations. More than 7% rose since the beginning of the year.
Western countries tried to reduce their dependence on Chinese rare earths investing in alternative sources and refining capacity in places such as Australia, Canada and the United States.
With Reuters information
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