U.S. mining companies plan to increase the production of antimony, a critical material for the defense industry, due to China's strengthened export controls on dual-use items to the U.S. in December last year. The main measures include: first, prohibiting the export of dual-use items to U.S. military users or for military purposes. Second, generally not granting licenses for the export of dual-use items related to gallium, germanium, antimony, and super-hard materials to the U.S.; and implementing stricter final user and end-use reviews for the export of dual-use items related to graphite to the U.S. As a result, the U.S. has experienced a severe shortage of antimony. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, since China imposed export restrictions on antimony, its price has quadrupled.
Due to the lack of large-scale antimony mining in the U.S. for many years, U.S. companies have had to start almost from scratch in developing mine sites in Alaska and Idaho. In addition, the U.S. government is considering accelerating antimony production in Alaska. In September this year, an American antimony company also received a five-year exclusive contract from the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency to supply $245 million worth of antimony ingots to U.S. defense companies.
Now, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has announced the suspension of the ban on exports of certain strategic dual-use items to the U.S. that had been implemented since 2024, including gallium, germanium, antimony, and super-hard materials. The U.S. hopes that the supply of Chinese minerals can be restored as soon as possible, but given the fickle nature of the previous administration and its tough stance toward China has not fundamentally changed, the U.S. is still pushing forward with its own efforts to produce antimony.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1848417175871500/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.