Core Mineral Stockpile Budget Expanded Sixfold... Securing 1.5 Years' Supply of Rare Earths

Ministry of Industry Launches Full-Scale Supply Chain Stabilization Project

On the 11th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that it will actively pursue three major strategies this year to stabilize supply chains: self-reliance, diversification, and resource acquisition.

First, the ministry significantly increased the R&D support budget for supply chain self-reliance from 17.6 billion KRW last year to 73.9 billion KRW this year. Among this, through the 'Dedicated R&D Track for Supply Chain Stabilization Items,' technology development will be supported for 29 items including secondary battery materials and key electric and electronic components. The target for mass production performance evaluation support, which aids the commercialization of R&D outcomes, will also expand from 100 companies last year to 150 companies this year.

Support will be provided for the entire cycle of discovering alternative import sources for small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-sized companies, including on-site inspections, sample imports and performance tests, and introduction of substitutes. Following last year's pilot project to discover alternative import sources for four items such as germanium, lithium hydroxide, and molybdenum, this year the ministry will pursue alternative import sources for 10 items reflecting corporate demand. To this end, the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation's raw material import insurance limit has been increased from 5 billion KRW to 10 billion KRW.

The budget for stockpiling key minerals has been increased more than sixfold from 37.2 billion KRW last year to 233.1 billion KRW this year to secure resources. The stockpile of lithium will increase from 5.8 days’ worth last year to 30 days’ worth this year, and the stockpile of rare earth permanent magnets for electric vehicles will increase from the existing 6 months’ worth to 1 year and 6 months’ worth, significantly expanding the stockpile of essential key minerals for advanced industries.

An official from the ministry stated, "For major supply chain stabilization items, we plan to continue supporting companies’ supply chain stabilization by publishing in-depth supply chain analysis and response strategy reports."