Jack Lifton on how the impact of the coronavirus on the critical materials’ (rare earths) supply chains are yet to come

Today in an interview with critical materials expert Jack Lifton, Tracy Weslosky of InvestorIntel asks Jack about the real effects of the coronavirus outbreak in China on the global critical materials market and specifically, the North American supply chain.

Jack started by revealing that no one in this market has a contingency plan for this kind of event. With the market already starting to feel the immediate affects from complex supply chains that rely on  Chinese mining, refining, and fabrication of critical technology metals, Jack reveals that we do not even know if the Chinese possess enough stockpiles of rare earths to handle their own demand, never mind the needs of Americans. Chinese manufacturing, mining, and logistics in China have been severely compromised or shut down and this has started to reveal itself through downgrading restatements of supply and sales from technology product suppliers such as Tesla and Apple. He added that the manufacturing sector in the western world is very dependent on imports from China and is now running on inventory and unless the coronavirus is controlled in China we are going to see glitches across the supply chain of critical materials. He further said, “This is a great time for investors (in the critical materials space) because now all the ignoring of North American mining and refining is looking pretty foolish. There has been a lack of interest in the financial world in mining and refining for the last several years. I believe this period is ending.”

To access the complete interview, click here