(Washington Composite Electric) In order to reduce China's role in a critical supply chain, the only rare earth producer in the United States signed an agreement with Japanese merchants and will directly ship the products of the new factory to Japan.
All companies in Mountain Pass, California, MP Materials Corp, Mountain Pass, USA announced that it will directly sell the products of new rare earth separation plants to the Japanese trading giant Sumitomo Corp in order to distribute them in Japan.
The output of this rare earth mine is usually shipped to China for processing, and Japanese companies are purchased from China.
The joint statement issued by the two companies said that this agreement will stabilize, diversified and reinforcement "a supply chain that is vital to Japanese manufacturing."Mountain Pass has become the flagship of the United States to reshape key mineral transactions.In 2021, the output of this rare earth ore accounted for about 15%of the world's rare earth mining supply.U.S. President Biden approved an additional cost of $ 35 million (about $ 47 million) last year to promote its development outside of mining.
The United States is taking the lead in promoting, reducing China's control of mineral circulation that is considered to have strategic importance.According to the White House, in terms of rare earth, China has about 85%of refined capacity in the world.
In addition to the separation factory, MP Materials also plans to produce a factory in Texas to produce a Rare-Earth Magnet.
According to Bloomberg report on February 11, in addition to negotiating with the EU, the US government is also discussing with Japan and the United Kingdom to sign a trade agreement involving key minerals; this is the latest US government in key areas to fight against China ’s influenceMeasures.
