On Tuesday 5 May, the French government unveiled a national resilience plan for rare earths and permanent magnets, aimed at reducing France’s dependence on China, which holds over 85% of the world’s rare earth separation capacity.
This plan aims to: - develop national production capacity in the various links of the permanent magnet value chain; - secure supplies of mining concentrates containing rare earths; - act on demand to secure the French and European supplies and outlets needed to develop the sector; - support the development of rare earth and permanent magnet recycling industries in France.
“To avoid the risk of substituting one dependency for another, it is our responsibility to make our economy less sensitive to the risks that weigh on our supply chains: coercion, geopolitical conflict, climatic hazards”, declared the French Finance Minister, Roland Lescure, in his introduction to the plan.
At international level, France has placed this issue at the heart of its presidency of the G7 (see EUROPE 13800/21).
See the French strategy: https://aeur.eu/f/lt9 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)