chaosCruiser@futurology.today 1 week ago
The REE business is big, and China can’t keep stockpiling these metals for long. Also, REE production is integrated to the rest of the industry, so you can’t just switch those factories off and expect everything else to keep on chugging along as usual.
This sort of export ban won’t last long unless China restructures large parts of their metal production. Oh, and they’re also leaving a lot of money on the table, which is going to hurt. In calling their bluff.
Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 1 week ago
China can afford to sit on these minerals for years or even decades. EU, US and Russia don’t have that luxury.
chaosCruiser@futurology.today 1 week ago
Well what if you need to keep on producing more common metals in the meantime, and REEs are a byproduct. You would need to keep the REE factories running too.
If you end up with 100 tons of terbium and yttrium oxide sitting in bags out in the rain, it’s going to lead to some serious quality issues further down the line. Well, just shove them in a warehouse then?
You’ll need a big warehouse, and you need to keep building more of them every year as the stockpiles grow. Needless to say, there are some serious logistical problems with a total export ban. A partial restriction is more viable, because it gives China some time to figure out how to adapt.
Glitchvid@lemmy.world 1 week ago
The US manages to store 1.5B tons of cheese it doesn’t do anything with, I think China can handle constructing some warehouse to hold what it digs up from the ground.
Num10ck@lemmy.world 1 week ago
especially since china has multiple vacant metropolitan complexes.
barsoap@lemm.ee 1 week ago
If China never wants to export REE again because other countries have built their own refineries sure, they can.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Forcing others to find new suppliers is how you find out they built their own supply chains that exclude you. Business 201