The Little Known Metals Giant that Rules a Global Market

When China’s Vital Materials Co. bought up a $600 million stockpile of obscure critical minerals in early 2020, it barely raised an eyebrow outside the niche world of minor metals.

Spin forward a few years, and the influence of a company some people in the industry have still barely heard of is a timely illustration of the scale of the challenge to loosen China’s grip on what have become key raw materials.

A Germanium sample.

Photographer: Susan E. Degginger / Alamy Stock/https://www.alamy.com

A Gallium Arsenide semiconductor wafer of chips used for radio frequency communications.

Photographer: Victor J. Blue/BLoomberg

As the US and Europe rush to secure supplies to underpin their push into green technology, China has control over so many key elements, from lithium ...