Fragmentation and consolidation of production chain in the global rare earth industry
V.A. Yatsenko1, 2, Y.V. Kryukov1, 2
1 Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation
2 M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russian Federation
Russian Mining Industry №1 / 2022 р. 66-74
Abstract: The article analyzes the issues of fragmentation and consolidation of value chains using the example of the global rare earth industry. On the one hand, there is a tendency in the world towards specialization of companies at technological stages, which is dictated by the laws of market economy. On the other hand, such fragmentation in the rare earth industry made it possible to monopolize the market and concentrate most of the production stages within one country. Governments of the Western countries are extremely concerned about this problem, but so far only options are being proposed for its solution, which are based on the cooperation of individual participants in the technological chain. The paper discusses consolidation of efforts on the global scale aimed at reducing China's influence on the rare earth metals market, often in spite of the market efficiency. Russia has a significant raw material potential and processing technologies created during the Soviet period, but is not yet able to transform the raw material potential into a high-tech one due to insufficient domestic demand for highly purified rare earth metals.
Keywords: rare earths, production chain, value chain, production fragmentation, production consolidation, mining, processing
Acknowledgments: Preparation of this article was financially supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation under State Project Assignment No. FSRG-2020-0010 "Regularities in spatial organization and spatial development of social and economic systems in a resource-based northern region"
For citation: Yatsenko V.A., Kryukov Y.V. Fragmentation and consolidation of production chain in the global rare earth industry. Russian Mining Industry. 2022;(1):66–74. https://doi.org/10.30686/1609-9192-2022-1-66-74
Article info
Received: 05.01.2022
Revised: 21.01.2022
Accepted: 22.01.2022
Information about the authors
Viktor A. Yatsenko – Cand. Sci. (Econ.), Researcher, Resource economy center, Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation; Scientific-Research Institute of Regional Economy of the North, M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russian Federation; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Yakov V. Kryukov – Cand. Sci. (Econ.),Senior Researcher, Resource economy center, Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation; Scientific-Research Institute of Regional Economy of the North, M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russian Federation
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