China rare earth dominance: G7 countries have decided to work together to compete with China in the field of rare earth metals and reduce its influence. According to the report of South China Morning Post, more than a dozen investments and partnerships have been agreed upon between these countries in Toronto, Canada last Friday.

4.57 billion US dollars will be spent under investment. The objective of which is to reduce China’s dependence on rare earths. Energy ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and America participated in this meeting. Currently, about 80 percent of the world’s rare earths are under the control of China.

China is the king of rare earth

Today, about 80 percent of all the rare earths available in the world are under the control of China. Other countries including America are largely dependent on China for their needs. On October 9, China announced new restrictions on rare earth exports. Which was to start from 1st November. However, after meeting US President Donald Trump, this decision was postponed for 1 year.

Talking about India, China had imposed restrictions on exports. However, recently China had given permission to three Indian companies to import rare earths with certain conditions. According to media reports, Continental India, Hitachi and Jay Ushin Company have received this approval. Due to this attitude of China on rare earth, the whole world wants to reduce its dependence on China. New options are being searched for this.

The conflict will not stop now

Professor Zhu Feng of Nanjing University said while talking to the media that the trade conflict between China and America is not over yet. He said that even though a temporary agreement has been signed between the two countries, it is yet to be formally signed. He believes that America wants to be free from its dependence on China in the coming future. In the coming time, this tension may affect the economic strategies of both the countries.

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India Russia Rare Earth Partnership: Another new dispute seems to be arising between India and neighboring country China. China has imposed more controls on the supply of rare earth metals and permanent magnets. India imports about 65 percent of its rare earth metal needs from China. In such a situation, India’s dependence on China is very high. Meanwhile, a positive news has emerged. Indian companies have started exploring possibilities in Russia to solve this problem.

According to an ET report, initial phase of talks are going on between India and Russia regarding this. The central government wants to move faster towards self-reliance. This is the reason why other alternatives to foreign imports are being explored. In the financial year 2023-24, India had imported about 2270 tonnes of rare earth metal from abroad.

Which company will talk to Russia?

Lohum and Midwest companies have been selected by the Central Government for talks with Russia. Both the companies will work with Russian mineral related companies to explore new possibilities for India. According to media reports, the Government of India has instructed the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Indian School of Mines (Dhanbad) and Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (Bhubaneswar) to understand the technologies of Russian companies and collect information about the entire processing. From the Russian side, Nornickel and Rosatom companies may get an opportunity for this partnership. Both are government companies of Russia.

India and Russia can become new players

China currently controls approximately 90 percent of the entire global market for rare earth processing. That means, China exports rare earths almost all over the world. According to media reports, Russia has done a lot of work on rare earth processing technologies in the last few years. Russia’s future plan is to commercialize these technologies in collaboration with India. If this is possible then India and Russia will be two new names in the world of rare earth processing. This will not only reduce dependence on China, but will also open new opportunities for export.

A few days ago, there was also discussion on starting a new scheme of Rs 7,350 crore by the Government of India for Rare Earth Permanent Magnet (REPM) production. Whose main objective is to increase the production of rare earths in India and reduce dependence on foreign imports.

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