Need to expand supply chain for crucial materials is clear

From cars and construction equipment to cellphones and military weapons, rare earth materials and other metals such as tungsten are critical to manufacturing many important things businesses and consumers use on a daily basis. While people around the world rely on these minerals in their everyday lives, China produces 80 percent of such materials used in the U.S. and has been doing so for quite some time.

What's made things even worse over the past 12 to 18 months is the pandemic. Many consumers stuck at home decided that their cellphone or computer needed to be replaced, which ultimately caused a shortage of these materials that is affecting other sectors, including the automotive and electronics industries.

Expanding the supply chain means the production of these metals that are indispensable to manufacturing both consumer and government necessities would not be solely sourced from China. But this won't happen overnight. The process of having a fully diversified supply chain is several years away because of the planning, process and permitting it takes to both open a mine and build a factory.

Fortunately, new entrants into the market have begun projects throughout the world that are mining for tungsten, one metal particularly in demand. This is extremely important as China has limited the amount of tungsten that can be exported to the U.S., which has caused a great deal of concern regarding the overall supply chain of this material.

Tungsten is used in semiconductors and anodes. It's also used in a wide array of products, from the filament of lightbulbs, electric furnaces and X-rays for medical and industrial imaging, to lead-free fishing weights and golf clubs, and drill bits and saw blades. Tungsten also is used for the production of glass syringes — a product that has become very high in demand during a pandemic that relies on the worldwide distribution of vaccines.

This is why it's imperative to diversify the supply chain for materials such as tungsten. Efforts made by new mining projects throughout the world will increase both supply levels within and exports to the U.S., which will benefit the supply chain of tungsten for production and manufacturing.

One mining project in South Korea is of particular importance. The Korea Tungsten project in the Sangdong Mine has one of the largest tungsten resources in the world. This mine was the leading global tungsten provider for more than 40 years and has the potential to produce half of the world's tungsten supply. The project is steadily becoming the focus for resource experts, miners, investors and shareholders around the globe.

President Joe Biden is working hard toward a significant infrastructure plan that also is meant to cut emissions in half by 2030. The infrastructure proposal includes $174 billion in spending to create electric vehicle charging stations in addition to other roadway enhancements while also touting both tax incentives for EV battery makers for building factories and the creation of manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

However, about 70 percent of the world's lithium ion EV batteries are still built in China because that's where most of the materials used to build them are located. Until the new production players are up and running, there remains an immediate issue for those working in traditional auto manufacturing when it comes to making a pivot in their careers to the clean energy sector that is to come in the U.S.

Even so, the future of mining and manufacturing these needed materials in the U.S. remains uncertain. While China dominates the mining and manufacturing, that didn't happen overnight. For about 30 years, China has been building its supply chain in addition to reevaluating it every one to five years. With export restrictions to the U.S. now hindering consumer goods and materials, it's important for the U.S. and other countries to evolve and diversify their supply sources, but it will take time to make the change.