Securing raw materials

In the modern PEV era, Chinese companies, with the assistance of China’s central government, have established a dominant or influential position in the mining and processing of key raw materials for PEVs. Sometimes China’s position is rooted in geological advantage but in other cases Chinese companies have secured long-term contracts or acquired ownership stakes in materials companies operating in Australia, Africa and South America. The Chinese agenda on raw materials is not simply a product of individual corporate decisions; it is a concerted national strategy with financial resources provided through state-owned banks charged with implementing the country’s manufacturing strategy (China 2025). Chinese dominance will continue unless the governments of US, Europe and/or Japan take determined steps to counter Chinese dominance. The United States was the first country to recognize the strategic significance of raw materials for PEVs. However, the US has not yet devised an effective national strategy to secure long-term access to those materials at a reasonable price. Europe and Japan are even less advanced than the US in their public policies to ensure access to strategic materials. For the next decade, companies operating in Australia, Africa and South America will play a critical role in the global supply and allocation of strategic materials. The materials challenge is a technically tractable, since there is no global shortage of such materials, but favorable public policies are necessary to assist companies in their quest for secure sources of supply for automakers around the world.