Rare earths are one of the most scarce raw materials in today's society
As a non-renewable resource, it is as much a "treasure" as oil. Moreover, in the application of rare earths, there is a great demand for rare earths in high-tech fields, including aerospace and ** fields.
Recently, some foreign media reported"Vietnam, Malaysia and other countries want to join forces to change the pattern of the rare earth market."
The "culprit" that triggered the joint efforts of these countries to change the rare earth market was China.
What's going on here?How will they deal with China?What is China's position in the rare earth market?
On September 9, 2023, the 18th G20 Summit was held in India.
The most eye-catching thing at the summit was a speech by Dai Qi, the representative of the United States, who pointed out that "China's rare earths are almost in a monopoly position in the global rare earth market, and China's rare earth momentum will bring threats to the United States and the world, and the development of China's rare earth market should be curbed as much as possible."
Dai QiObviously, the statement that "you can't eat grapes and say that grapes are sour" can only prove that this is the jealousy of the United States, but then again, how do China's rare earths pose a threat to the United States?
As for rare earths, we have to talk about the first discovery in the 18th century
At that time, rare earths were only used for flint and steel bulbs, so they didn't attract much attention.
Since then, with the development of science and technologyIt has been found that rare earths are not limited to thisIt can be used in computers, televisions, tanks, etc., and with a very small number of rare earths, it can play an extremely important role, and rare earths can be called "the finishing touch".
In the 70s of the last century, the United States discovered the "secret" hidden in rare earths, and then joined forces with Japan to begin to buy a large number of "slag" from China.
Soon,Japan's massive acquisitions have alarmed China.
You know, Japan can't afford to make a profit, and it will definitely not just buy slag, but also have other uses.
After in-depth research, China discovered that the slag contained a large amount of rare earths, which was Japan's real goal.
China, which is technologically limited, knows the secret, but also unable to break through againIn order to improve the application of rare earths in China, we can only temporarily choose the "cabbage price" to sell abroad, and then buy back the rare earths that have been refined.
China's "selfless dedication" type of ** mineral soil has lasted for many years, until the emergence of Xu Guangxian changed this rare earth pattern.
To know,Although China has abundant rare earth resources,But he can't bear the "manufacturing", so he can only improve himself, and Xu Guangxian is responsible for rare earth refining technology.
The emergence of cascade extraction and separation" technology has allowed China to become a major producer of rare earths.
In 1986, only 14 years laterChina's rare earth production surpasses that of the United StatesDue to the problem of the output value and profit of rare earths, the United States did not take measures to stop the development of China's rare earth industry at that time.
China is taking advantage of this gap to continuously refine rare earth extraction technology, while reducing the cost of rare earths, and slowly winning the first place in the world by importing ore raw materials and exporting rare earth raw materials.
When the United States realizes that it is too late to block China's development.
At present, 7% of the world's rare earth production is the largest in China, and China is firmly in a dominant position, whether it is mining reserves, or production, imports, and exports, all of which are in the first position in the world.
It is China's rare earth status that has created a "sense of crisis" for the United States, and wants to unite with allies to try to suppress the development of China's rare earth industry.
China's rare earth monopoly has become a fact, and it is indeed not easy to break the monopoly.
As early as 10 years ago, the United States has used strike measures against China's rare earths, together with Japan, sued China to the WTO, just because China issued an announcement at that time to restrict the export of rare earths.
Under international pressure, China had to relax the control of rare earths, which also led to a significant shrinkage of rare earths at that time.
But this initiative,It also caused a large number of companies in the United States to try to develop the rare earth industry to collapse at that time, and the United States' calculation of "grabbing" rare earths failed.
Under this premise, in order to further curb the development of China's rare earth market, the United States has to find another way, and the "divine speech" at the G20 summit is the new abacus of the United States.
What's even more unexpected is thatThis proposal of the United States was met with "a hundred responses."In particular, countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia began to increase their rare earth mining and processing technologies before this "proposal".
Vietnam, as the world's second-largest rare earth resource, has been trying to get rid of China's "containment", and the U.S. proposal is exactly what Vietnam wants.
After the G20 summit,BidenIt is a direct flight to Vietnam, according to the analysis of people familiar with the matter, Biden went, the purpose could not be clearer, it is to go to rare earths!
Vietnam is also currently planning to auction rare earth mining rights。Rare earth mining has an extremely important impact on the development of rare earth industry in various countries.
Vietnam opened the channel, which naturally attracted many countries to cater to it.
In the Vietnam auction programDong Bao Mine can be called one of the most abundant mines in Vietnam with rare earth resourcesIt is also important for Vietnam's rare earth resources to be obtained.
Vietnam's auction plan directly includes the Dongpu mine in the list, which has made many countries jealous.
Australian mining companies in order to finally win the rights to mine rare earth mines in VietnamIt is also hard work, and directly patting the chest to ensure that Vietnam's rare earth resources will be refined into high-quality rare earths.
Malaysia, which is also rich in rare earth resources, has been making small moves one after another recently, and the "Green Malaysia Plan" has been a political task for Malaysia in recent years, and many regulations have been introduced for this purpose.
Now in order to change the global rare earth landscape,Directly to the local rare earth enterprises to "open a small stove"., allowing local rare earth plants to operate under the premise of environmental priority. Although only some enterprises are allowed to produce, this is unprecedented and hard-won.
In the mining and processing of rare earths, the damage caused to the environment is irreversible, not only causing a series of pollution such as dust, but even some substances in rare earths have the risk of causing cancer.
This can also be seenMalaysia has exhausted all its efforts to "get rid of" China's monopoly.
According to relevant sources, Malaysia has formulated a complete set of plans for the development of its rare earth industry, especially in rare earth mining and post-processing.
After all, China's rare earth ** is placed there,Flies don't bite seamless eggs, if there is no advantage, how can they attract foreign businessmen, which is also one of the reasons why Vietnam and Malaysia have recently "invested in the development of rare earth industry".
The countries led by the United States, in order to deal with China's rare earth market, can be said to do everything.
As the saying goes, it is beyond the reach of an egg to a stone, and there are many countries like the United States, Vietnam, and Malaysia that are making small moves behind their backs, but can their little tricks really hurt China?
Not necessarily.
On August 1, 2023, China Customs announced that China will restrict the export of all rare earth raw materials in the future.
China's rare earth technology on a global scale is the position of the spireIt is the only country with a complete industrial chain, in which China's rare earth refining reserves have directly reached more than 90% in the world.
The application of rare earths in high-precision technology is obvious to all, especially in the application of semiconductors.
According to statistics,At present, more than 90% of the world's research institutes have rare earth raw materials in ChinaShortly after the news was released, China's gallium and germanium** soared several times.
If this restriction is officially implemented, the first blow will be the development of global semiconductors, which will directly lead to the process of global semiconductor research and development, which will be an irreversible crisis.
Some countries, such as the United States, have been looking for other partners, just like the recent rare earth cooperation program with Mongolia and the "Open Skies" cooperation, but with little effect.
China accounts for 70% of U.S. imports of rare earths, and this overwhelming advantage will not be reversed in a moment.
While other countries are trying to break China's rare earth monopoly,China is not sitting still, in addition to introducing restrictive laws, it is also deepening its own research and development.
Previously, it was also revealed that China once again had good news in rare earth mining, and China has developed a new rare earth mining technologyThe R&D technology has directly increased the rate of rare earths by 30% and the mining speed by 70%.
Rare earths are expensive in mining, because rare earth mining not only has great environmental damage, but also has a low rate, and China's technological breakthrough has effectively resolved this dilemma.
This is why some foreign media have previously commented on China's rare earthsThe United States may have no hope of reversing the situation, and China is the king".
When the United States was aware of the rare earth crisis, it once made an assessment that if the United States wanted to develop rare earths to the level of China at that time, it would take at least 15 years, which was still under the premise that China was stagnant.
China has long recognized the non-renewable nature of rare earths, so the current rare earth mining has slowly extended from domestic mining to imported production. That is to say,China imports rare earth mineral raw materials abroad at low prices, and then refine it in China, and then sell it at **.
This "reselling" method not only preserves the reserve content of China's rare earths, but also does not affect the sales volume of China's rare earth industry, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.
China already has an absolute advantage in the development of rare earths, which is a point that cannot be ignored.
Although there are still many potential risks in rare earth mining and processing in China, it is believed that in the future research and development, China will overcome these drawbacks and do everything possible to reduce the harm caused by rare earths.
Rare earths play a pivotal role in the future of scientific research and development, even if the United States, Vietnam, and Malaysia are eyeing each other, which has brought certain pressure to the development of rare earths in China, but China will never be forced to stop moving.
In the future,The development of rare earths will bring new opportunities and challenges to ChinaChina will always forge ahead and prove to the world that "China is powerful".