Beijing is planning to restrict exports of mining technology needed to fuel the global electric vehicle industry.
Beijing plans to restrict exports of mining technology needed to fuel the global electric vehicle industry.
China also wants to add battery cathode manufacturing technology to its controlled export list, according to a notice issued by the country's Ministry of Commerce last week seeking public comments on proposed restrictions on technology related to lithium and gallium production.
If passed, the additional new restrictions would constitute the next round of Chinese export controls on a range of materials and technologies critical to the production of semiconductor chips and electric vehicle batteries.
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| Graphite powder (left) and NCM powder made from nickel, copper and magnesium are used to make the anodes and cathode of lithium-ion batteries. Photo: Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images |
Asked about the proposal at a regular press briefing last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said: “ China applies export control measures in a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory manner .”
The plan to impose new export restrictions comes a month after China banned the sale of several materials critical to the production of semiconductor chips and other technology to the United States, including gallium, germanium, antimony and other “superhard” materials.
If implemented, the ban or restrictions “could significantly strengthen China’s dominance in the battery ecosystem, particularly strengthening the electric vehicle battery supply chain,” Liz Lee, a research director at Counterpoint Research, told CNN. “ Depending on the extent of export controls, this could make it difficult for Western lithium producers to use Chinese technology to produce lithium, one of the core materials for battery cathodes .”
China dominates the global industry for materials like gallium, a soft metal commonly used to make compounds for radio frequency chips in mobile phones and satellite communications, and lithium, ubiquitous in everyday life because it is used to make batteries for everything from smartphones to laptops to electric cars.
China's proposal would help it maintain a 70 percent market share in global lithium processing, Adam Webb, head of battery raw materials at consultancy Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, told Reuters.
“ These proposed measures would be a step towards maintaining a large market share and securing lithium chemical production for China’s domestic battery supply chain ,” he said.
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| A worker transports parts to an electric vehicle assembly line at the Leap Motors factory in Jinhua city, Zhejiang province, eastern China, on November 26, 2024. (Photo: Larry Leung/Feature China) |
While an iPhone requires only a small amount of lithium, an average electric car battery requires about 8 kilograms of lithium. That’s why any new restrictions on lithium mining technology could be especially important as global demand for electric vehicles grows. The International Energy Agency says the world is expected to meet only 50% of its lithium needs by 2035.
Global demand for lithium-ion batteries is expected to skyrocket over the next 10 years, with the number of gigawatt hours needed increasing from around 700 in 2022 to around 4,700 in 2030, McKinsey forecasts.
| On January 2 alone, China's Ministry of Commerce added 28 US companies and organizations, including major defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Missiles & Defense, to its export control list for the first time. |
Source: https://congthuong.vn/trung-quoc-de-xuat-han-che-xuat-khau-cong-nghe-xe-dien-368124.html
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