This group of 17 metals are essential to huge amounts of modern technology such as smartphones, electric vehicles and wind turbines and MRI scanners. However, around 70% of rare earths mining, and 90% of refining, happens in China, as a result of years of support from the Chinese government. Europe, like many other parts of the world, is trying to reduce its dependence on importing these key metals from China. The future of Solvay's plant will be critical to those ambitions.
torsdag 7. august 2025
How Europe is vying for rare earth independence from China
For almost 80 years rare earth metals have been pumped out of this industrial plant in La Rochelle on France's west coast. But as the materials become more and more crucial to the global economy, chemicals firm Solvay is expanding its processing plant next to the glistening Atlantic Ocean to meet surging demand across Europe.
This group of 17 metals are essential to huge amounts of modern technology such as smartphones, electric vehicles and wind turbines and MRI scanners. However, around 70% of rare earths mining, and 90% of refining, happens in China, as a result of years of support from the Chinese government. Europe, like many other parts of the world, is trying to reduce its dependence on importing these key metals from China. The future of Solvay's plant will be critical to those ambitions.
This group of 17 metals are essential to huge amounts of modern technology such as smartphones, electric vehicles and wind turbines and MRI scanners. However, around 70% of rare earths mining, and 90% of refining, happens in China, as a result of years of support from the Chinese government. Europe, like many other parts of the world, is trying to reduce its dependence on importing these key metals from China. The future of Solvay's plant will be critical to those ambitions.
