The Vietnamese car manufacturer Vinfast plans to produce electric vehicles in Germany in the future in order to gain a foothold on the European market.
The Canadian company Ucore Rare Metals is building a pilot plant to process rare earths and technology metals. This could be a crucial step toward an independent North American supply chain for the critical raw materials.
Ten percent more than in 2020: Sales of solar systems rose sharply in Germany last year.
In order to exploit strategic raw materials on the moon, China and Russia want to set up a joint research station.
This year, perhaps more than ever before, the complexity and vulnerability of global flows of raw materials and goods have been brought to the attention of a broad public. The same applies to the strong dependence on Asia, especially on China. The envisaged energy transition also raises awareness of the fact that this dependency will increase in the future.
From 2022, foreign companies will no longer be allowed to invest in China's rare earth sector.