World battles to loosen China's grip on vital rare earths for clean energy transition
Refining rare earths for the green energy transition is hard. Just ask MP Materials and Lynas. The world's two biggest rare earths companies outside of China are facing challenges turning rock from their mines into the building blocks for magnets used across the global economy, from Apple's iPhone to Tesla's Model 3 to Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jet.
The West's push to develop independent supplies of critical minerals took on greater urgency after Beijing imposed export controls last month on the strategic metals gallium and germanium, raising global fears that China could block exports of rare earths or processing technology next. Recent struggles by MP, Lynas and other companies to refine their own rare earths highlight the difficult task the rest of the world faces to break China's stranglehold on the key group of 17 metals needed for the clean energy transition, interviews with more than a dozen consultants, executives, investors and industry analysts showed. Technical complexities, partnership strains and pollution concerns are hampering companies' ability to wrest market share away from China, which according to the International Energy Agency controls 87% of global rare earths refining capacity.
If projects continue to struggle, several economies could fail to meet their goal of cutting carbon emissions to net zero 2050 to minimize climate change's impact, without Beijing's involvement. Plans for Australia's Lynas to build a U.S. rare earths refinery with a Texas-based partner have collapsed, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
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