Nice31 May 2019 12:42
Rare earth minerals are a suite of 17 elements mineable in the earth's crust, with names such as cerium, europium and lutetium.
About 35% of rare earth global reserves are in China, the most in the world, and the country is a mining machine, producing 120,000 metric tons or 70% of total rare earths in 2018, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The U.S. pales in comparison as it mined 15,000 metric tons of rare earths in 2018 and has a total of 1.4 million metric tons of reserves, versus China's 44 million.
U.S. consumption of rare earth compounds and metals relies heavily on imports, which rose to $160 million in 2018, according to USGS. Eighty percent were from China.
Rare earth materials are also crucial to U.S. defense systems because of their usage in lasers, radar, sonar, night vision systems, missile guidance, jet engines and even alloys for armored vehicles, all of which the U.S. relies upon for national security.
While China remains a dominant player in the rare earth market, production outside of the country is also growing, which could provide the U.S. with some alternatives, according to Credit Suisse.