- Myanmar is one of the world’s largest suppliers of rare earth production, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
- Experts say that most of those rare earths are sent to China, especially the less abundant heavy rare earth elements.
- “Its production has significantly strengthened China’s dominant position, effectively giving Beijing a de facto monopoly over the global heavy rare earths supply chain,” said CSIS’s Gracelin Baskaran.
Could the West build rare earth processing plants outside the West [because those plants are very polluting] and offer higher prices for rare earth materials to reduce the choke hold China has? Of course, corporations would gag as it would raise raw material cost. But it would be a good national strategic move methinks.
I found the point about Myanmar’s role in the rare earth supply chain especially striking. The dependency it creates for China highlights how fragile and concentrated this market still is. Developing processing capacity outside China would clearly be costly, but the long-term strategic value seems hard to ignore. For investors, this kind of geopolitical leverage is impossible to overlook in future materials planning.
3 Likes
Volume is critical to rare earth isolation and purification. Are they large enough to automate? Otherwise labor intensive. And processing and disposal of waste streams adds additional cost. Mineral assays are low making for large waste streams. Then you have processing chemicals to treat and dispose of.
Making the investment is risky. Can you compete w China? Or will you have solid backing from govt or customers?