Exasperated automakers and parts suppliers have been desperate to find alternative sources of magnets, which are in short supply due to Chinese export curbs. 

Some told Eckard their factories could be idled by mid July without backup magnet supplies.

"The whole car industry is in full panic," said Eckard, CEO of Magnosphere, based in Troisdorf, Germany. "They are willing to pay any price."

Car executives have once again been driven into their war rooms, concerned that China's tight export controls on rare earth magnets, crucially needed to make cars, could cripple production.

United States (US) President Donald Trump said Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to let rare earths minerals and magnets flow to the US.

A US trade team is scheduled to meet Chinese counterparts for talks in London on Monday.

The industry worries that the rare earths situation could cascade into the third massive supply chain shock in five years.

A semiconductor shortage wiped away millions of cars from automakers' production plans, from roughly 2021 to 2023.

--Reuters--