From: lessgovt@gmail.com   
      
   China’s Export Curb on Chip-Making Metals Prompts Countries to Explore   
   Supply-Chain Diversification   
   By Wall St. Journal, July 5, 2023   
      
   China could leverage its restrictions in discussions with Yellen, according to   
   analysts at Eurasia Group, a risk consulting firm. Beijing’s move also   
   serves as a warning shot “to remind countries including the United States,   
   Japan, and the    
   Netherlands that China has retaliatory options and to thereby deter them from   
   imposing further restrictions on Chinese access to high-end chips and   
   tools,” Eurasia’s analysts told clients in a note Tuesday.   
      
   Overall, the impact of China’s export restrictions on gallium and germanium   
   is likely to be limited in the short term.   
      
   In South Korea’s semiconductor sector, gallium is used mainly for research   
   and development of next-generation products, the country’s Trade Ministry   
   said. Germanium goes into some gases used in semiconductor production, but it   
   can be replaced with    
   other materials and alternative import routes are available, the ministry said.   
      
   The compound gallium nitride, meanwhile, is used to make semiconductors that   
   deal with high-voltage electrical flows, such as power-management chips widely   
   used in cars and certain radio-frequency chips for telecommunication devices.   
      
   U.S. and European firms specializing in those types of chips could see a   
   bigger impact down the road, while memory chip-driven South Korea is   
   relatively shielded, said Ahn Jin-ho of Hanyang University who is a vice   
   chairman of the Korean Institute of    
   Metals and Materials.    
      
   Companies that produce power-management chips and automotive chips using   
   semiconducting materials such as gallium nitride include U.S.-based chip   
   makers Wolfspeed and NXP Semiconductors, as well as Germany’s Infineon   
   Technologies. Wolfspeed and NXP    
   couldn’t be reached for comment. Infineon said that while it can’t comment   
   on specific materials, it currently doesn’t see a major impact that could   
   disrupt its manufacturing capabilities.   
      
   Radio-frequency semiconductors, used in telecommunication devices, are   
   dominated by U.S. and Japanese firms including Broadcom, Qualcomm, Qorvo and   
   Murata Manufacturing. These companies didn’t immediately respond to requests   
   for comment. In addition to    
   telecommunication base stations, radio-frequency semiconductors are also used   
   in defense- and satellite-related applications.   
      
   Even should disruptions occur, the metals and mining industry has longer-run   
   options to help plug shortfalls in places such as the U.S. and Australia.   
   Germanium and gallium are typically recovered as byproducts from zinc and   
   alumina refineries.   
      
   These types of niche critical minerals, which can be costly to process, have   
   long been overlooked by global miners in favor of industrial commodities that   
   can be produced at scale. China has meantime exported them relatively cheaply,   
   allowing the country    
   to become the dominant supplier.   
      
   Nyrstar, which is owned by trading giant Trafigura Group and is the world’s   
   No. two zinc producer, is considering building a $150 million facility to   
   recover and process germanium and gallium at its zinc smelter in Clarksville,   
   Tenn. The facility could    
   produce enough of the metals to meet as much as 80% of annual U.S. demand, the   
   Netherlands-based company said in emailed remarks on Tuesday.   
      
   “We are currently discussing the potential development with relevant   
   government entities in order to finalize the business case and move forward   
   with this investment as soon as practically possible,” the company said.   
      
   Nyrstar last month said it could also consider extracting germanium it has   
   previously ignored at its Australian operations. Doing so would be of benefit   
   to countries including the U.S., it said. The company’s estimates suggest it   
   could account for    
   roughly 5% of world production there if it did so.   
      
   There are substantial U.S. reserves of germanium in Alaska, Tennessee and   
   Washington, and the U.S. is able to recycle new and old scrap, according to   
   the U.S. Geological Survey. Some domestic zinc deposits could also hold a   
   significant amount of gallium,    
   the agency said in a report this year.   
      
   https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-latest-export-controls-promp   
   -countries-to-explore-supply-chain-diversification-318e74d1   
      
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