US rare earths flow to Asia as domestic demand is slow to emerge
US rare earths produced by Washington-backed companies are flowing to Japan and South Korea, as American demand has yet to materialize despite the Trump administration’s push to develop a national supply chain. Rare earths products produced by MP Materials, Energy Fuels and Phoenix Tailings—which together have won billions of dollars in US government support—are being sold to companies in Asia, where the scale of magnet manufacturing remains larger than the nascent production in the US. China’s lock on global supplies of rare earths and critical minerals has become a national security concern in the US and other Western nations, since Beijing started restricting access to them. The metals are crucial to 21st-century technology and are used in the manufacturing of everything from weapons guidance systems to electric vehicle batteries. Read full article Comments
US rare earths produced by Washington-backed companies are flowing to Japan and South Korea, as American demand has yet to materialize despite the Trump administration’s push to develop a national supply chain.
Rare earths products produced by MP Materials, Energy Fuels and Phoenix Tailings—which together have won billions of dollars in US government support—are being sold to companies in Asia, where the scale of magnet manufacturing remains larger than the nascent production in the US.
Miners backed by Trump admin. sell to Japan, South Korea despite push to develop domestic supply chain.
Nick Myers, chief executive of Phoenix Tailings, said Japanese customers were “clamoring” for the rare earth metals it produces, given the dramatic cut in exports of the materials from China this year.
The start-up’s customers were “primarily in Korea and Japan,” he said. “Unless the [US defense] primes move quickly, I will sell out… other companies are paying top dollar faster.”
