The Little Known Metals Giant that Rules a Global Market

China’s Vital Materials is living up to its name and shows the scale of the challenge facing the US and Europe to come up with alternative supplies.

A copper smelter in China.Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
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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.