Sunday, August 6, 2023

The U.S. Wants a Rare-Earths Supply Chain. Here’s Why It Won’t Come Easily.

This articles details the well known supply chain dependence on China for rare‐earth materials.
A bipartisan bill have been introduced in the House "includes a $20‐a‐kilogram credit for U.S.‐made magnets, while
manufacturers sourcing 90% of their component parts from U.S. producers could be entitled to a $30‐a‐kilogram credit".

The Chinese near‐monopoly is highlight by this quote from later in the article:
"…roughly 60% of all mined rare‐earth minerals are sourced from China. Three other major sources exist in Myanmar,
Australia and Mountain Pass. While the 60% might not sound that concentrated, the dependence on China is even more
pronounced further down the supply chain. The rare‐earths supply chain is typically made up of three main parts: mining
and concentrating the raw materials, refining them to produce oxides and producing the magnet. In recent years, China
has come to control 91% of refining activity, 87% of oxide separation and 94% of magnet production…"


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