"Caught in the middle of the
U.S.-China trade war is a Chiclet-size magnet that is vital to every new
electric vehicle on the road.
The magnet is made with
dysprosium. Atomic number 66. A rare-earth mineral with a silver metallic
luster. More than 90% of refined dysprosium comes from China, and it is used
in magnets that power everything from medical equipment to EV motors.
In its retaliation against U.S.
tariffs, China slowed exports of several rare-earth minerals and magnets this
month, setting off a panic among U.S. automakers.
"You cannot build the motor
without the magnet," said a senior automotive executive. "If we
want electric-vehicle production to continue to happen in the United States,
this has to be solved."
Under the new Chinese rules, U.S.
companies have to apply for a license to export the minerals from the Asian
country, a monthslong process that leaves carmakers uncertain if they will be
able to replenish their supplies of this precious material.
While President Trump has said that
his administration is actively talking with Beijing on trade, it couldn't be
determined whether such discussions would lead China to soften its stance on
these particular exports.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk
recently said a lack of the magnets could derail plans to build the Optimus
humanoid robot at the company's factory outside Austin, Texas.
"Hopefully, we'll get a
license to use the rare-earth magnets," Musk said on the company's
earnings call this month. "China wants some assurances that these are
not used for military purposes, which obviously they're not."
The magnets, also known as
permanent magnets, are used in the spinning portion of the EV motor that
turns the wheels. While Tesla's EV motors contain these rare-earth magnets,
the company said it has been working for years to develop a version that
doesn't use them.
Dysprosium is in many ways the
archetypal rare-earth mineral. It was discovered in 1886 by a French chemist,
who named the new element after the Greek word for "difficult to obtain."
While dysprosium is mined in China, Myanmar, Australia and the U.S.,
transforming it into a usable material is a costly multistep process and most
of the expertise for refining the element is concentrated in China.
Analysts estimate companies
stockpiled enough magnets and rare-earth minerals to last them until the end
of May. Nearly 900,000 EVs were built in the U.S. last year, according to
U.S. government data and the research firm Motor Intelligence.
Already, prices for these elements
are skyrocketing. The price of terbium, another rare-earth mineral used in
magnets, rose 25% this month, said Neha Mukherjee, industry analyst at
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
"Rare earths are used in
almost everything that turns on," said Gracelin Baskaran, a director at
the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C., think
tank.
"The primary use of rare
earths is permanent magnets."
The minerals are abundant in
nature but difficult to refine into their pure form.
They are the essential building blocks
of much of modern technology, forming parts of everything from satellites and
jet fighters to CT scanners and iPhone speakers. Automakers said they are
currently combing through their catalogs to find affected parts. They are
finding them in dashboard screens, brakes, gear shifters, windshield wipers
and even some headlights.
"We have one particular
supplier who uses a magnet in a particular component in the vehicle, a
seat-belt buckle," an automotive supply chain manager said.
"Another supplier does not."
China is the source of over 90% of
the world's supply of rare-earth minerals, and thus far no other country has
been able to produce them at the same scale and cost, according to experts.
Baskaran has worked to draw
attention to the national-security risk posed by China's near monopoly on
rare-earth minerals for years, and now finds herself in the spotlight as
companies and policymakers scramble to find a response. "I never thought
I would be cool," said Baskaran, who holds a doctorate from the
University of Cambridge.
The potential chaos related to the
slowing of one link in the automotive supply chain illustrates how dependent
the modern car industry is on global trade.
It also shows how the efforts by
the Trump administration to reverse decades of globalization are exposing
holes in America's manufacturing industry that can't easily be filled.
In many cases, carmakers have been
able to find parts that don't employ rare-earth materials, but there are few
good alternatives for use in electric-motor magnets.
One option would be to revert to
an older technology that uses electromagnets, which once powered early
versions of Tesla's Model S luxury sedan. The company ditched those motors
because rare-earth magnets were more efficient, allowing EVs to squeeze more
miles out of a charge.
America's disadvantage is twofold:
There is currently only one large-scale dysprosium mine in the U.S., and
processing facilities are only now coming online. The mine, in California,
wouldn't be able to meet the needs of American manufacturers. Many more such
operations would be required to wean the car sector from China's supply.
The development of a new mine
takes an average of 29 years in the U.S., according to a report by S&P
Global Market Intelligence.
The bigger problem is that the
U.S. can't currently separate dysprosium from surrounding rock.
China's head start on mining and
extracting the precious elements makes it difficult to build alternative
sources. "A mine in China, to produce from an ore to oxide, costs around
$11 to $15 a kilogram," said Mukherjee, of Benchmark Mineral
Intelligence. "For a mine in Brazil, it's approximately $35 to $40 a
kilogram. It would be even higher in the U.S. or Australia."
There also are key parts of the
refining process known only to Chinese companies, said Baskaran. "It's a
permitting problem, a know-how problem and a technical problem," she
said.” [1]
Komentarų nėra:
Rašyti komentarą