An Australia-Vietnam Partnership Could Erode China’s Monopoly on Rare Earths – The Diplomat

The Debate | Opinion

Vietnam is a rising financial drive in Southeast Asia. The nation boasts a youthful inhabitants of greater than 98 million with rising charges of urbanization. Vietnam has each the ambition and potential to turn out to be a member of the G-20 by 2050. It’s the world’s fifteenth-most populous nation and has progress charges on observe to achieve 7.8 % in 2022. With one of the thrilling progress prospects of the approaching century, Vietnam is quick gaining the eye of worldwide buyers.

A lot of Vietnam’s media consideration has been within the wake of the China Plus-One technique, which has seen companies shift their manufacturing hubs from China to diversify dangers, enhance provide chain resilience and handle manpower points. The uptake of the technique has been accelerated in response to rising U.S.-China tensions and rising Chinese language labor prices because of an rising way of life. Vietnam has been a main beneficiary of this shift.

Nonetheless, there may be extra to Vietnam than low-cost manufacturing. Vietnam additionally holds the world’s second-largest reserves of uncommon earth parts (REEs). Though the assets are presently underdeveloped, Vietnam has the potential to help in disrupting China’s REE monopoly. In 2021, Chinese language mines produced roughly 60 % of the REEs mined globally. With its uncommon earth minerals reserves, Vietnam has the human capital base to determine an built-in downstream processing business.

The thought of using Vietnamese REE reserves to offset Chinese language dominance shouldn’t be new. In 2010, an altercation between Chinese language and Japanese ships close to the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands resulted in China levying commerce sanctions in opposition to Japan. China suspended the availability of REE oxides to Japan, inflicting costs to spike. The incident highlighted Japan’s dependence on China, and in response, the Japanese signed a partnership with Vietnam to develop its REE business. Nonetheless, because the Chinese language sanctions have been lifted, commerce quickly returned, and the event of the Vietnamese business stalled. At present, Vietnam solely produces a small quantity of REEs; manufacturing barely reached 400 metric tons in 2021.

That is the place Australia enters the image. Australia and Vietnam share various widespread pursuits; each nations boast an abundance of pure assets and complementary aggressive benefits that align with one another’s priorities. Vietnam’s speedy financial emergence represents a major alternative for Australian companies to construct a safer and diversified provide chain and entry new shopper markets.

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Australia has the chance to supply the technical experience, merchandise, and capital wanted to speed up the event of the Vietnamese REE business. Though no Australian REE miners are working in Vietnam, Australian miner Blackstone Minerals is main by instance by way of benefiting from the mining alternatives on provide in Vietnam with its Ta Khoa nickel-copper challenge within the northern province of Son La.

Blackstone Minerals claims that the challenge will reveal that  it’s viable for mining operation in Vietnam to adjust to the very best environmental, social, and company governance (ESG) requirements. Australian REE Miners ought to acknowledge the chance and take into account repositioning themselves to capitalize on high-profit-yielding tasks earlier than different internationals transfer in.

An Australia-Vietnam partnership might unlock a “powerhouse” alternative within the manufacturing of REE. It might additionally result in downstream alternatives. The Vietnamese uncommon earth business is crippled by uneconomic, small deposits and regulatory points, comparable to excessive royalties, and funding and market entry challenges.

A strategic partnership between Vietnam and Australia might resolve many of those points. Australia has the merchandise and technical experience to enhance the effectivity and sustainability of Vietnam’s assets sector. Unexplored alternatives for Australian corporations lie inside Mining Gear, Know-how, and Companies (METS) throughout the Vietnamese assets sector. With a development in the direction of underground mining in Vietnam, Australian know-how will be employed to mine Vietnamese REE deposits sustainably and at an affordable value Additional analysis and funding into the Vietnamese REE business will drive the invention of economically viable deposits and current alternatives for making use of Australian know-how to resolve operational bottlenecks.

Australia can provide Vietnam technical help for mine operations and the way enhance the regulatory framework surrounding the business. Australia is a world chief in regulation, and has created a conducive surroundings for international funding while upholding ESG requirements. Australia might theoretically “export” to Vietnam its laws, together with its royalty requirements and ESG insurance policies, to help the sector’s sustainable growth.

In the meantime, in alternate, Vietnam can provide Australia low-cost labor for the downstream processing of Australian REE and entry to the Southeast Asian market. Many countries in Southeast Asia wish to develop home battery industries however don’t have all the required crucial minerals wanted. The Australian useful resource sector, together with related know-how and providers, should pivot and develop underutilized relationships to unlock new financial alternatives by means of leveraging a strategic place in Vietnam.

With nearly all of the worldwide center class shifting to Asia by 2030, Vietnam shouldn’t be solely a horny market however provides the perfect gateway into Southeast Asia for Australian items. The present state of the Australian-Vietnam enterprise relationship within the REE business shouldn’t be adequately positioned to capitalize on these progress alternatives. Firms that efficiently reposition and interact the Vietnamese REE market will reap the advantages of long-term progress.