Good morning.
As I write this, we are scrambling to make changes to our upcoming 3-part series, Power Scramble.
That’s because of a sudden about-turn from Malaysia, which said it would allow Lynas to continue to import and process rare earths until March 2026. It had earlier ordered the company to stop doing so by year’s end, because of concerns about low-level radioactive waste.
This is but another twist in the escalating global scramble for rare earths and other critical metals.
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China has a near-monopoly over the supply of these metals. Lynas is the largest rare earths mining company outside of China, and its Kuantan facility is the world’s largest single processing plant. So Malaysia’s decision has caused ripples globally.
Most of our personal devices, such as cell phones and computers, contain tiny yet powerful rare earth magnets integral to the functioning of moving or vibrating parts (like lenses and speakers). Rare earths and other critical metals are in low-carbon technologies such as batteries and solar panels.
As a museum docent, I can’t help drawing parallels between what’s happening today to China’s one-time monopoly over porcelain. One broken only after reverse-engineering by German alchemists and industrial espionage by Jesuit priests solved the mystery of porcelain making.
It was not just about the clay, but also the know-how and the tech. Similarly, China’s dominance over the supply of critical metals goes beyond its natural endowments.
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For many years, China produced nearly all of the critical metals, cheaply and efficiently, for the rest of the world. That used to be fine for everyone – until Chinese brands began producing their own tech devices needing critical metals, and a trade war brewed between the US and China.
This woke other tech powers up to the vulnerability of their own supply chain, and sparked off this scramble of historic proportions.
Documenting this global race brought us from the remote Australian outback to the coffee-growing mountains of Vietnam; from the illegal mines in Malaysia to the fascinating magnet factories of China. Join us on our epic journey.
Tan Yew Guan
Executive Producer, Power Scramble
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