China will restrict exports of antimony for national security reasons, the latest in Beijing's efforts to curb exports of strategic metals amid an escalating trade war with the West. The protectionist measures will take effect on September 15.
Reuters, citing securities firm CICC, reported that the shiny grey metal's biggest use is as a flame retardant, which will account for about half of global usage in 2023. About 20 percent is used in making photovoltaic glass to improve the performance of solar cells, and the rest is used in lead-acid batteries, the Reuters report said.
Antimony is also used in military equipment such as infrared missiles, nuclear weapons, and night vision goggles, as well as as a hardening agent in bullets and tanks.
China's Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs said in a statement on Thursday (August 15) that companies need government approval to export antimony deposits, oxides, hydrides, indium antimonide, organoantimony compounds and gold-antimony separation technology.
“It is international practice to implement export controls on antimony, ultra-hard materials, and other related items,” a Commerce Department spokesman said in a statement.
The spokesman said the export controls would not target any specific country or region and exports that comply with relevant regulations would be approved, adding that the measures were aimed at safeguarding national security and meeting nuclear non-proliferation and other international obligations.
He said the Chinese government opposes any country or region using controlled items from China to engage in activities that undermine China's national sovereignty, security and development interests.
But in an article published on Friday, a Guangdong-based IT columnist said China was seeking to use the antimony export restrictions in retaliation for the US semiconductor embargo.
The authors say China has the world's largest antimony reserves and production capacity, giving it an advantage in the development of infrared tools, advanced communications equipment, alloy products and next-generation semiconductors.
He highlighted that Qingdao Haohan Quancai Semiconductor Co., Ltd. and Optics Technology Holdings Co., Ltd. have already begun manufacturing next-generation chips using gallium and indium antimonide.
According to the United States Geological Survey, China's antimony reserves are at 640,000 tons, accounting for 30% of the world's total, followed by Russia with 350,000 tons (16%) and Bolivia with 310,000 tons (14%). By 2023, China will account for 48% of the world's antimony supplies, followed by Tajikistan with 25% and Turkey with 7%.
Stibine, or antimony hydride, is used in the semiconductor industry to dope silicon with small amounts of antimony via the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process.
Antimony thin films are excellent photodetectors. The organoantimony compound trimethylstibine is a raw material in the metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) process used to manufacture infrared light-emitting diodes (IR LEDs).
All of these materials can be used in missiles made by US defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, both of which have been under sanctions from China since 2019.
Ultra-hard materials
The Commerce Ministry and China Customs said China will also restrict exports of cubic presses and microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) equipment, which can produce synthetic diamonds and diamond coatings, respectively.
Cubic Press machines can produce lab-synthesized diamonds under high pressure and high temperature. Gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors with diamond substrates, or GaN-on-diamond, are ideal for producing high-power, high-frequency devices such as military amplifiers and transmitters.
According to media reports, Chinese cube press manufacturers include Luoyang Qiming Co., Ltd. and Guilin Metallurgical Machinery Factory Co., Ltd. Global manufacturers include Germany's Max Voggenreiter, based in Beijing.
MPCVD machines can produce diamond coatings, which are essential for military sensor and detector applications due to their scratch resistance, high thermal conductivity, and water repellency. In 2019, US technology startup AKHAN Semiconductor announced that it would use its diamond coating technology in Lockheed Martin's weapons systems.
Currently, Chinese MPCVD equipment manufacturers include Wattsine, Uniplasm, Newman-hueray Microwave Tech, etc. Global players include WEC Superabrasives from Taiwan, Seki Diamond Systems from the US, and Iplas GmbH from Germany.
In August 2023, China imposed export restrictions on gallium and germanium. Gallium is used in compound semiconductors, often used to improve radar transmission speed and efficiency. Germanium is used in night vision goggles and in solar cells used to power many satellites.
China controls about 80% of the world's gallium supply and 60% of germanium, according to the European industry group Critical Raw Materials Alliance (CRMA).
However, some researchers said in October last year that there were no signs of a shortage of the two minerals on the global market.
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