This is the front line of a technological leap being powered by China’s dominance in critical minerals and its strategic industrial policy.
The advanced rare earth steel being produced is used in the country’s most ambitious engineering projects – from high-speed railways to wind turbines and the world’s largest hydropower dam being built in Tibet, according to a report in the official Science and Technology Daily.
But growing demand for rare earths in China’s steel industry – in addition to Beijing’s export controls – has reduced the supply to overseas buyers even further.
In the United States, the defence sector – including the F-35 fighter jet programme, nuclear submarines, missiles and drones – has been grappling with supply chain anxieties fuelled by the shortage of rare earths.
