VINACHEM

The United States may lose nearly 20% of its germanium supplies, as well as almost 9% of gallium and 8% of antimony supplies because of the restrictions introduced by China earlier this week, Sputnik calculated on Thursday based on data from the US statistical service.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Tuesday that China had tightened export control on dual-use items to the US, including bans on products related to gallium, germanium, antimony and superhard materials.

In January-September, US purchases of germanium from China amounted to $4.64 million, which is almost three times less than in the same period a year earlier. The US’ total imports of germanium in the period stood at $24.34 million. Thus, China’s share in the US imports amounted to 19.1%.

The US purchased Chinese antimony for $3.74 million, or 7.7% of the total import volume of $48.9 million. Compared with last year, the volume of purchases of this product from China decreased by 33.7%.

The US imported only $3.31 million worth of gallium this year, of which China accounted for almost 9%, or $297,000, down from $449,600 last year.

Gallium and germanium are widely used in the production of high-tech products. Germanium is used in the creation of solar panels, wireless communication devices and optical systems, such as military night vision goggles.  – Source: Sputnik –