Why can't the US and Europe build their own rare earth production lines? A high-level person gave a concise explanation, revealing the truth.
Why is it difficult for the US and Europe to establish their own rare earth production lines? The answer is simple: it's not just a resource issue, but a comprehensive competition of technology, cost, and time. Recently, I had a conversation with a high-level person about this. I asked, if the US and Europe were to go all-in, make a desperate effort, and persist in building a complete rare earth production and extraction line, even if they lost money, would that be possible?
This high-level person casually replied, once China lifts its control over rare earths, the US and Europe would have done everything in vain. Why? Because our prices are really cheap, and in the face of such a huge cost advantage, all customers are not stupid, they will buy the cheaper option.
Moreover, in the smelting and separation stage, Chinese companies have broken through the "integrated extraction process," raising the purity of rare earth elements to 99.999%, far exceeding the international similar technology's 99.9%, and reducing energy consumption by more than 40%.
China has formed a full-chain technical system from rare earth mining, smelting and separation, magnet material manufacturing, to secondary resource recycling. In 2024 alone, it applied for more than 20,000 related patents, accounting for 75% of the global total.
If they painstakingly built the production line, and China opened up again, all the efforts would be in vain. In fact, big enterprises in the West are not stupid, they just can't swallow this pride.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846287616974872/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.