China metals strategy aimed at countering punitive Western tariffs says SP Angel

China is implementing a strategy to import metal concentrates from around the world but then restrict refined metal exports for strategic political interests and also to counter moves by Western countries to impose tariffs on Chinese imports.That’s according to UK brokers SP Angel who, in a recent research report, commented the move by China to restrict antimony exports from September 15 is “a serious move to start putting pressure on the West to enable ongoing access into Western markets without punitive tariffs.”China is the world’s largest producer of antimony at 83,000t in 2023 according to United States Geological Survey data and accounted for 48% of world supply,The brokers added, “China appears to have an on-going strategy for disrupting Western industry through restricting REE (rare earth elements) and other speciality metals where it has near control or significant influence, and we wonder which metals will be next for restrictions to the West.?”According to SP Angel other Chinese restrictions so far imposed over the past year include: gallium used in semi-conductors and fibre optics; germanium and high-grade graphite which is used in EV batteries.The brokers commented, “China’s view is that if they work on the smelting and refining of these metals then Chinese industry should get preferential access.“Speciality metals prices have been generally suppressed by Chinese traders making it extremely difficult to fund new western production. We note speciality metals prices are also often cheaper in China than in Western markets due to export restrictions.“As a result, western investors are not currently funding much in mining and even less in smelting and refining leaving the door open for China to dominate this sector.”SP Angel singled out a few Western-orientated metals companies working in the field including Mkango which does REE recycling to metal oxides in the UK and runs an REE mine in Malawi and Rainbow Rare Earths which is reprocessing REE in phosphate waste in South Africa to REE metal oxides.According to Reuters the Chinese Commerce Ministry said the restrictions on antimony exports were being imposed “in order to safeguard national security and interest and fulfil international obligations such as non-proliferation.”The Ministry commented the curbs were not directed at any specific country or region.Antimony is used in military applications which as ammunition, infra-red missiles, nuclear weapons and night vision goggles as well as in batteries and photo-voltaic equipment.The post China metals strategy aimed at countering punitive Western tariffs says SP Angel appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com