According to him, in the first nine months of 2022, the volume of rare earth metals mined in China and transported through the Russian Federation to the European Union amounted to 36,074 tons. This is twice as much as in 2021.
As Bloomberg notes, some of the supplied metals can be used in the defense industry, for example, lanthanum is widely used in the production of armor-piercing ammunition.
According to the founder of the Norwegian company Norge Mining, Michael Wurmser, quoted by the agency, despite all the sanctions, this supply chain continues to function.
“This highlights the importance of these rare earth metals and shows how much we depend on them,” says Wurmser.
Bloomberg explains that rail transit through the Russian Federation allows delivery times to be cut in half.
It should be noted that China is the absolute world leader in the extraction of rare earth metals, which are of paramount importance for modern industry. China’s share of global rare earth metal production is around 70%.
