Why speculative investors dominate in rare earths debate
Australia is in the race to develop alternative supplies to China’s dominance of the supply and processing of rare earths that are critical to the global economy and to national security. But the West is far behind. How quickly can this be done?
Rare earths aren’t actually that rare. Nor are the 17 rare earth elements in the periodic table worth much in isolation, with some of purely nominal value. Current estimates of the global market value for rare earths are somewhere between $US8 billion to $US10 billion ($12.4 billion to $15.5 billion).
Yet some of these rare earths are necessary for the production of everything from cell phones to advanced robots, electric vehicles to wind turbines, to a myriad of defence applications.
Loading...
Jennifer Hewett is the national affairs columnist. She writes a daily column on politics, business and the economy. Connect with Jennifer on Twitter. Email Jennifer at jennifer.hewett@afr.com
