China, Beijing's technological autarky blocks antimony exports
It is certainly not the first nor will it be the last step to protect the internal market, in this case a key defence mineral
3' min read
3' min read
China has banned the export of antimony metal, a key material used in many military applications, such as high explosives, missile propellants and infrared guidance. The antimony required by the US military industry is mainly imported from China. Even in civil use, antimony is one of the key raw materials for photovoltaic cells and photovoltaic glass, which are needed especially in the green transition.
United States in reserve
.China's restrictions on antimony exports will not only affect the US military industry, but will also make the Western PV industry even more desperate.
Currently, China holds 32% of antimony reserves, but 80% of production. In addition, Bolivia and Russia also have relatively large antimony reserves. Of course, the US can find antimony reserves in other countries, but establishing production lines takes time and technology and is not an easy task.
China has also already banned the export of gallium and germanium for more than a year: it wants to keep its 'treasures' for itself, which have been revalued thanks to the dependence triggered by the lowering of the price of these materials, despite the fact that the process of extracting some of them is quite expensive. For example, gallium and germanium are not found in nature, but are the by-product of other processes, such as coal, bauxite, zinc and aluminium.
New risks for the EU
.The European Union, itself affected by these decisions, tried to avoid a new supply crisis already a year ago at the G20 summit in Japan when it reacted to Beijing's clampdown on gallium and germanium needed for semiconductors - and consequently for the microchips underpinning the digital and green transition technologies.
