Mineral researchers who hope to satisfy the growing demand for rare earths compete with a disc of almost 1 billion US dollars of Brazilian financial resources in order to make their projects in a country with the largest reserves to China.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty pictures
According to the European Chamber of Commerce in China, Beijing – Beijing still has no access to critically needed rare earths.
As a result, at least one member lost “millions of euros”, the ECCC told reporters on Monday.
The almost 25-year-old company organization rejected the name of the company concerned, but said that other members still had no clarity about a consistent process for access to the minerals.
Rare earths are a category of minerals that are of crucial importance for a product volume from cars to semiconductors. According to the US Geological Survey, China controlled over 69% of the production of rare earths in 2024 and almost half of the global reserves in 2024.
Beijing used this check in trade talks with the USA and other partners. Since the end of last year, China has increased its restrictions on rare earth exports and even requires proof that they are not used for military purposes. China started after a commercial weapon troop
A spokesman for the German car manufacturer Volkswagen The “supply of parts that contain rare earths is stable and we have no deficiency. Our suppliers continuously work with their subcontractors to obtain the necessary export licenses.”
However, the ECCC said that the members have increasingly reported challenges in obtaining the export licenses after the approval was picked up in June and July. The Business Group also emphasized that the licenses still do not guarantee steady access to the rare earths and increasingly increase uncertainty for companies.
Almost half of the EU imports of the EU came from China last year, followed by Russia and Malaysia, according to the block.
Growing restrictions on access to rare earths are the latest challenge for international companies that are caught in the middle of trade voltages with China.
The trust of the foreign company in China has decreased since Covid-19 when the pandemic restrictions have remained sluggishly.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai said last week that their survey among the members between May and June showed that the trust of the companies has reached a new low in the next five years. The study also showed that almost half of the respondents – the highest part – had derived investments for China in other regions, mainly in Southeast Asia.
European and US companies warned a lack of rare earth in the third quarter, in addition to the production disorders at the beginning of this year.
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The ECCC said it is planning to make political decision -makers in Brussels next week to update them through the business situation. It also published the annual position paper on Wednesday, which contained several recommendations for China, while the country is preparing its next five -year plan.
The chamber has asked Beijing to consider paths to remedy the basic causes of overproduction and to give the private sector a larger role in large industries such as healthcare, in which state -owned companies in China tend to have a greater influence.
The ECCC President Jens Eskelund said reporters this week that the conversation in the recent meeting of the chamber with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce focused on access to rare earths.
China's top executives should meet in October to discuss the development goals for 2026 to 2030. Beijing has represented similar plans every five years. The 14th version, which started in 2021, ends at the end of this year with the 15th next year.
European companies will watch this meeting closely, since China is the second largest company of the EU in 2024 at $ 732 billion.
Looking back at such plans, including “Made in China 2025”, all these things we have to fight [with] It is currently the result of political decisions to a large extent, “said Eskelund.” That is why this plans are actually important … they certainly take the direction. “
– Sam Meredith from CNBC contributed to this report.