Beijing’s export restrictions on the supply of germanium and gallium, which are used for semiconductor applications and are part of military and communications equipment, have almost doubled the prices of these minerals on the European market in the last year, said the server. Financial Times (FT).
China said it was protecting “national security and interests” by limiting the export of germanium and gallium. Last year’s decision was in retaliation for restrictions by the United States that banned the export of highly advanced chips to China.
But without China involved in the supply chain, making these chips is more challenging, as the country produces 98 percent of the world’s gallium supply and 60 percent of germanium , US Geological Survey data show.
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Economic
“The situation with China is critical. We are responsible for it,” a person who works for a major buyer of semiconductor materials confirmed to the FT.
The same person who works at that company said that while some large shipments of Chinese gallium are still taking place, total exports have fallen by about half since the controls were introduced in August. last year. “If China cuts gallium exports, as it did in the first half of the year, our supplies will be used up and there will be shortages,” the source said.
Precious metals
German
- Germanium is a rare element that occurs in rocks as an impurity in zinc and silver ores.
- In the semiconductor industry, it is used mainly in optical fibers or in infrared radiation, ie in making night vision devices, for example.
- China produces 60 percent of the world’s germanium supply, with Canada, Finland, Russia and the US accounting for the rest.
Gallium
- Gallium is found in significant amounts in zinc and bauxite ores.
- In making semiconductors, gallium arsenide is mainly used, which is heat resistant and can operate at higher frequencies than silicon. Gallium arsenide also has a lower noise level than silicon, which is more suitable for radars or various telecommunications equipment.
- According to the US Geological Survey, China accounts for up to 98 percent of global production.
Jan Giese, senior manager for minor metals at the German company Tradium, said that the gallium and germanium his group received through China’s new export licensing program was a fraction of what they had bought in the past.
Traders are accusing their Chinese counterparts of hoarding germanium, leading to a rise in the metal’s prices. “The Chinese aren’t even offering germanium overseas at the moment,” Terence Bell, manager of Vancouver, Canada-based Strategic Metal Investments, told the FT.
Each individual shipment of German or gallium bound for the border must be approved, which can take 30 to 80 days, making long-term supply deals impossible due to approval uncertainty, traders said. . The buyer and the intended use of the metals must be specified in the application.
“Given the global situation and relations between the US and China remain the same, I see no incentive for China to control exports,” the FT said a non-business source another named says.
Chips in Rožnov survived the planned economy and capitalism of the 90s
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2024-08-27 13:12:49
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