Fortune Minerals : Cobalt News

CNBC - February 7, 2023

For the U.S., whose relations with China can currently be described as tense at best, this poses several potential security risks.

The U.S. has some rapid catching up to do if it is to secure the reliability of its supply chain and its independence from competitors like China, a top White House advisor admitted this week…"Look, this is a major concern for the U.S. and I think for the rest of the world. As we are going into a cleaner, greener, an entirely new energy system, we have to make sure we have a diversified supply chain," Special Presidential Coordinator Amos Hochstein told CNBC's Hadley Gamble on Monday…"We can't have a supply chain that is concentrated in any country, doesn't matter which country that is," he said. "We have to make sure from the mining and refining process to the building of the batteries and wind turbines that we have a diversified system that we can be well supplied for. That is the only way this will work from an economy perspective."…Asked if the U.S. was behind in this endeavor, Hochstein, who also served in the Obama administration as chief energy envoy, replied: "Absolutely we're behind." But, he added, "It doesn't mean that we're out."…China controls roughly 60% of the world's production of rare earth minerals and materials, according to a recent report by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. Those resources include lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, manganese and other rare earth elements crucial for making things like electric vehicles, batteries, computers and household goods…They're also essential for renewable technology like solar panels and wind turbines, which are central in the U.S.'s attempt at an energy transition away from fossil fuels…For the U.S., whose relations with China can currently be described as tense at best, this poses several security risks, were China to decide to weaponize that market dominance at any point. The Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have also highlighted the fragility of the global supply chain…Globally, China controls most of the market for processing and refining for cobalt, lithium, rare earths and other critical minerals."…"We have to recognize that we have not invested, and that's what the United States is trying to do now, is not only say the same old talk of we want to have partnerships," Hochstein said. "We're going to come to this table together with our G7 allies, we're going to pool our resources, we're going to make sure that the money is there."…"We have to learn from what we went through in the oil and gas energy space, as we transition to a new energy market that relies still on natural resources," he added…"They may not be oil and gas, but they're still natural resources - they're not abundant everywhere in the world - so we have to make sure from the U.S. perspective that we have a supply chain for the United States, and that's what the legislation that we passed in the United States is trying to do."