China stops export of critical minerals to US
Last week, China banned exports to the United States of the critical minerals antimony, germanium and gallium that have extensive military uses, accelerating trade pressures the day after US latest clampdown on China’s chip sector.
The bans reinforce implementation of existing limits on critical minerals exports that Beijing began carrying out last year, but apply only to the U.S. market, in the latest escalation of trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Germanium and Gallium are used in semiconductors, while Germanium is also used in infrared technology, fibre optic cables and solar cells. Antimony is used in bullets and other weaponry, while graphite is the largest component by volume of electric vehicle batteries.
The United States was assessing the new restrictions, but will take necessary steps in response, a White House spokesperson said, without giving details. The move is a considerable escalation of tensions in supply chains where access to raw material units is already tight in the West
Chinese customs data show there have been no shipments of wrought and unwrought germanium or gallium to the U.S. this year through October, although it was the fourth and fifth-largest market for the minerals, respectively, a year earlier.
China accounted for 48% of globally mined antimony in 2023, which is used in ammunition, infrared missiles, nuclear weapons and night-vision goggles, as well as in batteries and photovoltaic equipment. In 2024, China has accounted for 59.2% of refined germanium output and 98.8% of refined gallium production, according to consultancy Project Blue.
Prices of antimony trioxide in Rotterdam had soared by 228% since the beginning of the year to $39,000 a metric ton on Nov. 28, data from information provider Argus showed.
