The new "rare metal age" : new challenges and implications of critical raw materials supply security in the 21st century
When Beijing threatened to restrict China’s export of rare earths (widely used in numerous important civilian and military technologies) to the United States at the end of May 2019, the world was reminded of China’s rare earths export disruption in the autumn of 2010 amid a maritime territorial conf...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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Nanyang Technological University
2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143617 |
| _version_ | 1824454132819296256 |
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| author | Umbach, Frank |
| author2 | - |
| author_facet | - Umbach, Frank |
| author_sort | Umbach, Frank |
| collection | NTU |
| description | When Beijing threatened to restrict China’s export of rare earths (widely used in numerous important civilian and military technologies) to the United States at the end of May 2019, the world was reminded of China’s rare earths export disruption in the autumn of 2010 amid a maritime territorial conflict between China and Japan. In the past few years, the worldwide attention cast on the future supply security of rare earths and other critical raw materials has increased in the United States, the European Union, Japan and other countries owing to the global expansion of “green technologies” (including renewable energy sources, electric vehicles and batteries, and smart grids) and digitalisation as well as equipment and devices embedded with artificial intelligence.
In this paper, the term “critical raw materials” (CRMs) refers to raw materials critical to industries that are also import-dependent on them, and to new technologies which often have no viable substitutes and whose supply, besides being constrained by limited recycling rates and options, is also dominated by one or a few suppliers. CRMs include rare earth elements (REEs), which comprise 17 different elements (see Figure 4).
The global race for the most advanced technologies dependent on CRMs has intensified the competition for access to as well as strategic control of REEs, lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel and other CRMs. This working paper analyses the global supply and demand balance of three CRMs (REEs, lithium and cobalt, the latter two being major raw materials for batteries) in the foreseeable future and whether ASEAN countries can play a role as producers and suppliers of CRMs. It also examines potential counterstrategies for mitigating and reducing the global demand for CRMs, such as substitution, reduced use of CRMs, and recycling and re-use. |
| first_indexed | 2025-02-19T03:17:27Z |
| format | Working Paper |
| id | ntu-10356/143617 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T03:17:27Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Nanyang Technological University |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1436172020-11-01T08:49:37Z The new "rare metal age" : new challenges and implications of critical raw materials supply security in the 21st century Umbach, Frank - S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies - Social sciences::Political science When Beijing threatened to restrict China’s export of rare earths (widely used in numerous important civilian and military technologies) to the United States at the end of May 2019, the world was reminded of China’s rare earths export disruption in the autumn of 2010 amid a maritime territorial conflict between China and Japan. In the past few years, the worldwide attention cast on the future supply security of rare earths and other critical raw materials has increased in the United States, the European Union, Japan and other countries owing to the global expansion of “green technologies” (including renewable energy sources, electric vehicles and batteries, and smart grids) and digitalisation as well as equipment and devices embedded with artificial intelligence. In this paper, the term “critical raw materials” (CRMs) refers to raw materials critical to industries that are also import-dependent on them, and to new technologies which often have no viable substitutes and whose supply, besides being constrained by limited recycling rates and options, is also dominated by one or a few suppliers. CRMs include rare earth elements (REEs), which comprise 17 different elements (see Figure 4). The global race for the most advanced technologies dependent on CRMs has intensified the competition for access to as well as strategic control of REEs, lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel and other CRMs. This working paper analyses the global supply and demand balance of three CRMs (REEs, lithium and cobalt, the latter two being major raw materials for batteries) in the foreseeable future and whether ASEAN countries can play a role as producers and suppliers of CRMs. It also examines potential counterstrategies for mitigating and reducing the global demand for CRMs, such as substitution, reduced use of CRMs, and recycling and re-use. 2020-09-14T07:44:17Z 2020-09-14T07:44:17Z 2020 Working Paper Umbach, F. (2020). The new "rare metal age" : new challenges and implications of critical raw materials supply security in the 21st century. (RSIS Working Paper, No. 329). Singapore: Nanyang Technological University. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143617 en RSIS Working Papers, 329-20 Nanyang Technological University application/pdf Nanyang Technological University |
| spellingShingle | Social sciences::Political science Umbach, Frank The new "rare metal age" : new challenges and implications of critical raw materials supply security in the 21st century |
| title | The new "rare metal age" : new challenges and implications of critical raw materials supply security in the 21st century |
| title_full | The new "rare metal age" : new challenges and implications of critical raw materials supply security in the 21st century |
| title_fullStr | The new "rare metal age" : new challenges and implications of critical raw materials supply security in the 21st century |
| title_full_unstemmed | The new "rare metal age" : new challenges and implications of critical raw materials supply security in the 21st century |
| title_short | The new "rare metal age" : new challenges and implications of critical raw materials supply security in the 21st century |
| title_sort | new rare metal age new challenges and implications of critical raw materials supply security in the 21st century |
| topic | Social sciences::Political science |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143617 |
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