“Materials such as graphite, aluminum and titanium alloys, widely used in the manufacture of electronic products, are on the list (…) The new controls also include tungsten and magnesium alloys which meet certain specifications,” details Nikkei, even if the details of the products, alloys and purities concerned are not yet public.
«Export licenses require sellers to provide information about the buyer and its plans. China is thus signaling that it can put in place real flow control, by targeting “dual-use” materials (civil and military) because this makes it possible to justify these restrictions within the framework of the Wassenaar arrangement, which gives right states not to export products that could harm their national security», Explained John Seaman, associate researcher at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) who closely follows Beijing’s policy, before this latest announcement in an interview with L’Usine Nouvelle.
In 2023, China would control 86% of tungsten production and 91% of magnesium refining in the world, estimates the European Commission. It is also a very large producer of aluminum and its alloys. “These are critical metals in the field of defense and for industry in general and over which China has clear domination», Comments Raphael Danino-Perraud, associate researcher at Ifri, who anticipated measures on these elements. The effects of previous restrictions introduced by Beijing remain limited for the moment in terms of disruption to supply chains. However, they have sometimes boosted prices outside China, particularly for germanium and antimony. They also allow Beijing to secure supplies for its domestic industry, points out the researcher.
Defense and automotive are targeted
«This control must question from the point of view of strategic autonomy», Alerts the expert, who notes that beyond defense, the entire industry can be affected by these restrictions. Although Europe has refineries and producers of aluminum alloys (a light metal that is found everywhere), there are, for example, no magnesium mines in Europe. The most advanced project, led by Verde Magnesium in Romania, aims to produce from 2027 this metal, widely used in various aluminum alloys popular in the automobile industry, extruded parts and packaging. At the end of 2021, a blockage of Chinese exports caused prices to rise from 2,000 to 14,000 dollars per tonne. Prices, which continued to fall after the threshold of 3,550 euros per tonne reached on the Rotterdam market at the beginning of January, fell to 2,630 euros in mid-November, according to data provider Argus Media.
The case of tungsten, critical in defense where it is used in particular in armor and armor-piercing munitions, is more likely to worry all industrial players in the short term. The Defense sector only accounts for 9% of the total market, according to the International Tungsten Association. But “Arms industry orders add tension to already tight market», breathes Raphaël Danino-Perraud. This metal is used in a multitude of sectors, particularly in the form of carbide cutting tools, a very hard and abrasion-resistant form. It is found specifically in machine tools that produce automobile parts as well as in mining machines that dig rocks.
It is also used in certain high-performance alloys, popular in aeronautics and the oil sector… As well as for the photovoltaic sector where tungsten filaments are used to cut silicon wafers, notes Fastmarket. The specialized firm underlines the role of this new demand, as well as the production difficulties of aging mines (and subject to more and more environmental rules) in China in the relative increase in tungsten which took place in the summer! According to Argus media, a tonne of APT (the main tungsten intermediate) traded at around 332 per tonne in Rotterdam in October 2024, compared to 305 euros at the start of the year.
Tungsten mine project in Ariège
A dynamic that is still weak, but which could facilitate the emergence of new projects in Europe, where mines are planned in Portugal, the United Kingdom and Spain. In France, the company Neometal recently submitted an application for an exclusive research permit to reopen the Salau mine in Ariège, which the company Apollo Minerals had already looked into (unsuccessfully).
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
