Ford Has A Real Rare Earth Minerals Problem

Ford has a serious supply issue on its hands when it comes to rare earth minerals, says CEO Jim Farley. While that might not sound like a big deal to some, it’s actually causing manufacturing disruptions and could become worse before it gets better.

Nissan is about to make a daring financial move.

Unlike GM, which says it has a sweet supply of rare earth minerals, Ford is scrambling to figure out what to do. After all, Farley dropped a big truth bomb recently, revealing the automaker only has a few days’ supply of the stuff on hand.

That’s what the man in charge told Bloomberg TV in an interview, according to Fortune. And he says the situation has forced Ford to idle factories, like Chicago Assembly where the Explorer is made, because there simply hasn’t been enough of the valuable minerals.

What’s originated this problem has been tense trade negotiations with China, which at the moment controls almost all refining for rare earth minerals in the world. In an increasingly digital world, the stuff is critical, including for building modern vehicles loaded with all kinds of gadgets.

But with a trade negotiations reportedly going well with China now, it sounds like Ford’s rear earth problem might subside, for now.

Hopefully, Ford and others don’t get too complacent. After all, the Middle Kingdom has become increasingly adversarial towards the West in recent years. Knowing it holds that kind of power over our manufacturing base, that could be used against automakers operating here in the US.

There’s been talk of establishing rare earth mineral processing plants stateside, taking back more control of the flow of materials for cars, electronics, and more. If this sounds a lot like the chip shortage which bottlenecked new vehicle supplies a few years ago, we agree that it’s a little too similar.

Image via Ford