International miners set to benefit as China curbs germanium exports

Citing national security interests, China on Monday announced export restrictions, alarming international companies in the semiconductor and defence industries that rely on it for supply.

“We will produce germanium (to replace material) that’s unavailable for the market,” Gecamines’ chairman Guy Robert Lukama told Reuters.

Congo, already the world’s top cobalt supplier and Africa’s biggest copper producer, plans to explore for minerals needed to facilitate the global transition to a low-carbon economy, including lithium, tin, and rare earths. It aims to open a unit to produce germanium among other materials.

“(The curbs) will improve germanium prices and create more value for the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Lukama added.

The germanium and gallium export curbs from Aug. 1 could disrupt global supply chains, as China controls most production of the metals used in computer chips, fiber-optic cables and other products.

An influential Chinese trade policy adviser said on Wednesday that export controls on the metals used in semiconductors were “just a start”, as Beijing ratchets up tension with Washington days before a visit from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Russia, another producer of the materials, is ready to boost output of germanium, state conglomerate Rostec told Reuters on Wednesday, mostly to meet the needs of Russia’s domestic market.

Nyrstar, an international producer of minerals and metals, told Reuters it was considering germanium and gallium projects in Australia, Europe and the US.

Belgian company Umicore said its portfolio is sufficiently robust to maintain supplies to customers.

North America’s biggest germanium producer, Canada’s Teck Resources, also said in an emailed statement the curbs on Chinese exports would not have any impact on its germanium production.