US Think Tank: China Dominates 85% of World’s Rare Earth Market

According to data from the US think tank ‘Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), China supplies 85% of the world's rare earth, and accounts for a third of the global supply of rare metals and minerals such as antimony and baryte. The United States restarted the Mountain Pass mine in California and gradually rebuilt the rare-earth production and supply chain.

The supply of rare earth elements (REEs) and other rare metals and minerals is essential for the manufacture of electric car batteries, satellites, weapons, wind turbines and solar panels. China has begun to control REEs early, especially in Africa. Beijing has invested heavily in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries. It is fancy that the Democratic Republic of Congo controls more than 60% of the world’s cobalt ore reserves. After years of deployment, the country is currently possessing 72% of the global cobalt refining capacity.

Zane Heflin, a strategist at the US think tank, stated in the report that many observers regard Chinese investment in Africa as a way to obtain valuable African raw materials and expand its geopolitical influence. He said that the race to establish trade relations in Africa to provide REE supplies may be the next stage of geopolitical competition.

Data from another US think tank, CSIS, also shows that China has the world's largest production capacity of key raw materials for lithium-ion battery manufacturing and accounts for 80% of the global battery manufacturing capacity. So far, the country has provided 85% of the world's REEs, and it accounts for two-thirds of the global supply of rare metals, antimony, and barite.

The United States has decided to rebuild the rare metal supply chain to reduce its dependence on China. George Washington University professor David Shinn said that the United States now controls about 10% of rare earth production and is trying to increase the supply of key minerals, so it restarted the Mountain Pass mine in California and gradually rebuilt the REE production supply chain.

Andrew Miller, product director of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, said that minerals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel will lay the foundation for a new generation of the energy industry and have important geopolitical importance. The US and Europe have understood that these raw materials are vital to the development of new industries centered on clean energy and the protection of the existing automobile industry.

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