China is losing its dominance on critical matters

Demand for critical minerals such as copper, cobalt, lithium and nickel is increasing. These raw materials are used in a range of new technologies, from electric cars to wind turbines, which are becoming increasingly important as the world moves towards a green transition. Experts expect this trend to accelerate, with global production of cobalt, graphite and lithium expected to increase nearly six-fold between now and 2050 (World Bank).

As Statista's A nna Fleck shows in the chart below, data recently released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) shows that China accounts for about two-thirds of the world's critical mineral processing/refining capacity. Minerals More infographics on Statista

Although extraction of these materials occurs worldwide, China currently accounts for more than half of the world's refining of aluminum, lithium and cobalt, approximately 90% of that of rare earth metals and manganese, and 100% of that of natural graphite. Additionally, more than a third of the world's copper and nickel processing takes place in China.

Despite leading the production of critical minerals, China is losing its dominance . For example, the United States and Australia increased their production of rare earths starting in 2010, and more recently, Myanmar and Thailand have started extracting much more than before. International efforts to obtain strategic materials are, increasingly, having an effect.

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The article China is losing dominance on critical issues comes from Economic Scenarios .

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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-cina-sta-perdendo-la-dominanza-sulle-materie-critiche/ on Sun, 04 Aug 2024 06:00:46 +0000.