Via Taiwan News, December 2:
Taiwan worries similar export blocks will undermine missile systems
An opinion column in the Korea Herald has warned that South Korea's recent urea crisis is just a “trailer” to the upcoming full-length “real movie” as China starts meting out further supply chain pain.
The report suspects the EV battery industry will be the next victim and that a “weaponization of metals” like lithium and manganese will cripple South Korean manufacturers.
Analysts cited by Korea Herald say the country’s biggest EV manufacturers are all overly reliant on China for supplies.
“Depending on how strongly Beijing weaponizes those metals, Korean battery firms’ dominance in the global market can fade rapidly,” Kim Hyun-so said.
China is tightening its grip on supplies and forming anti-competitive cabals to further consolidate its stranglehold on the minerals. In October 2021, for instance, a state-backed initiative named the “Manganese Innovation Alliance” brought dozens of Chinese suppliers under one roof and the price of the element has soared since.....
....MUCH MORE
Now to go get me some manganese.
If interested in the whole state-controlled consolidation thing, see also: "China Set to Create New State-Owned Rare-Earths Giant"
