China’s germanium, gallium ban could cost the US $3.4 billion
According to the USGS, gallium prices could increase by more than 150% and germanium prices by 26% in the event of a total ban.
The head of China’s largest metals trader has called for government efforts to consolidate the rare earth industry and nurture competitive domestic firms in the sector.
Zhou Zhongshu, president of China Minmetals, said that the difficulties facing China’s rare earth industry mainly come from the fact that local authorities, owners of rare earth mines, tend to issue mining licenses to local firms.
