"Rare earths" are a collection of 17 rare chemical elements in the periodic table.
Every year, sales of these rare metals seem somewhat insignificant-adding up to less than $2 billion U.S. dollars-but without them, industries worth trillions of dollars would grind to a halt.
A wide range of gadgets and consumer goods, including the hybrid car and generators for wind turbines consume these little-known elements.
Industry experts are predicting an annual shortage of 44,000 tons by 2015.
In Hong Kong, experts discussed these rare earth metals at the fifth international Metal Events Rare Earths conference.
Click here for more on the impending rare Earths metals shortage.
