Abstract:
Rare earth elements (REEs) are crucial to accomplishing renewable energy targets throughout the world,
including electrical vehicles and wind energy. Despite the extensive requirements of REEs, current supply chains
are mainly fulfilled by the Chinese rare earth (RE) industry. This has resulted in price volatility, supply chain
uncertainties, and RE trade disputes. The authors identified 13 factors as constraints to develop RE supply chains
outside China and these constraints were rated by the major RE companies outside China, including RE industry
experts. The survey results obtained from RE industry experts have been statistically analysed to ascertain the
key factors that affect the development of independent rare earth (RE) supply chains outside China. 4 key factors
were identified as statistically important, among them, business uncertainties within the RE industry and the
Chinese RE influences on global supply chains being the dominant factors.
Citation:
Ilankoon, I. M. S. K., Dushyantha, N. P., Mancheri, N., Edirisinghe, P. M., Neethling, S. J., Ratnayake, N. P., Rohitha, L. P. S., Dissanayake, D. M. D. O. K., Premasiri, H. M. R., Abeysinghe, A. M. K. B., Dharmaratne, P. G. R., & Batapola, N. M. (2022). Constraints to rare earth elements supply diversification: Evidence from an industry survey. Journal of Cleaner Production, 331, 129932. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129932