By Yoko Nishikawa
TOKYO (Reuters) - China's shipments to Japan of rare earths could resume next week, Japan's trade minister said on Friday, nearly two months after exports of the minerals, vital for making many high-tech products, stalled amid a spat over disputed islands in the East China Sea.
Customs procedures for shipments to Japan are improving, Trade Minister Akihiro Ohata told reporters, adding: "I strongly hope that shipments will start moving next week."
Japanese firms have complained of restrictions on shipments of the minerals by Chinese customs officials since late September, when a Chinese trawler captain was detained after his ship collided with Japanese patrol boats near the disputed islands. He was later released and sent home.
A survey by Japan's trade ministry of more than 30 firms this week showed that 16 out of 27 that gave detailed responses said there had been signs of improvement in customs procedures.
"I think the Chinese understand that stalled exports of rare earths to Japan would in turn have a big impact on China's production of computers," Ohata said.
"I strongly hope that rare earth shipments to Japan will get back to normal."
He said the improvement in customs procedures was in line with comments by Zhang Ping, the head of China's National Development and Reform Commission, who told him last weekend that the issue would be resolved soon.
Daily checks showed there had been very little loading of Japan-bound rare earths in the past two months, said Tsutomu Murasaki, director of the trade ministry's nonferrous metals division.
The survey showed some shipments still being blocked, though loading began on two vessels on November 17 after Chinese customs gave the go-ahead, Murasaki told a news conference. Shippers had applied for customs clearance in early October.
He said the ministry had no information on the impact on users of rare earths such as glass and auto parts makers.
Tensions remain between Japan and China despite the release of the trawler captain. The two countries' leaders, however, signaled a thaw may be in sight when they met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific leaders' gathering in Japan last weekend.
China, which produces 97 percent of the world's rare earths, set 2010 export quotas 40 percent lower than 2009 levels, raising alarm among buyer nations about supplies.
The shortage and higher cost has resulted in an increase of smuggling of rare earths, an official at a Beijing-based metals pricing service told Reuters last month.
(Additional reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Michael Watson)
