The European Commission expressed concern, while Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck said any broadening of controls to materials like lithium would be “problematic”.One U.S. semiconductor wafer manufacturer said on Tuesday it was applying for export permits, while a China-based germanium producer said buyer enquiries had come in as prices surged.
Shares in Teck Resources, North America’s biggest germanium producer, briefly jumped more than 1% in early trading. They were up 0.09 percent at 1937 GMT. “This was probably the least consequential measure , since it does not hurt as much as much as other options could,” Karayannopoulos said. “On the other hand, it could give very significant impetus to North American and European governments – along with producers and consumers of high-purity gallium outside of China – to consider more seriously what it takes to establish supply chain optionality.”U.S.
Germany’s BDI industry group said China’s move strengthens the argument for greater raw materials independence. A manager at a China-based germanium producer reported receiving queries from buyers in Europe, Japan and the United States hoping to build stockpiles before Aug. 1 and who expected it could take as long as two months to obtain export permits.
Some downstream users with long-term sales contracts “are vexed about a possible jump in raw material prices, as it raises their production costs and may cause them losses”, he said.Shares in some metal producers rose on Tuesday. Yunnan Lincang Xinyuan Germanium Industry Co jumped 10 percentby the daily upper limit while Yunnan Chihong Zinc & Germanium Co climbed 7 percent.