(Original title: "In the past can buy 100 kilograms, now China gives 10 kilograms thanks to God")

► Wen Observer.com Wang Yi

In response to a series of U.S. pressures against China, China strengthened export controls on related military and civilian dual-use items at the end of last year, and in principle did not allow related dual-use items such as uranium and uranium to be exported to the U.S. Now, 9 months ago, some Western traders have been unbearable.

China imposes export controls on critical strategic metal uranium

The Financial Times on September 15 that after China introduced export controls on key strategic metal uranium, the European and American markets are experiencing a wave of "disappointed" supply crisis. one trader said directly that they could buy 100 kilograms of uranium from China, now China "can give 10 kilograms," and the price has been three to four times higher than before.

Official data show that uranium is an emerging strategic key mineral and has been included in China's list of strategic minerals. Uranium is often used in high-tech fields such as infrared optics, fiber optics, solar cells, polymer catalysts and medicines, and also in chips, solar cells, biotechnology and weapons manufacturing.

The production of this metal is concentrated in China, and after the U.S. and the Netherlands imposed restrictions on advanced chips and their manufacturing equipment, China took countermeasures to tighten uranium exports, which made limited inventories of Western companies now facing the reality of the "card neck".

Terence Bell, chairman and founder of Strategic Metal Investments, Canada, revealed that because China¡¯s shipments were ¡°completely exhausted,¡± they had been unable to buy uranium for at least six months.

Christian Hell, of German trading firm Tradium, also said that the demand for uranium ¡°rastered¡± mostly from the U.S. and Europe, ¡°almost everybody is in contact with us,¡± the markets were in ¡°panic,¡± and ¡°we didn¡¯t even have a way to answer all the questions.¡±

China's uranium exports in the first quarter of 2023 to the third quarter of 2025

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According to the analysis of the trade data of the U.S. think tank "Silverado Policy Accelerator" (Silverado Policy Accelerator), between January and July 2025, the U.S. imports from China fell by about 40%. in terms of price, the global commodity market analysis agency Fastmarkets data showed that as of last week, the price of uranium has risen to the highest price since 2011, reaching $5,000 per kilogram, while China has not yet begun export controls on uranium in early 2023, the price of uranium is more than $1,000 per kilogram.

At the end of last year, the day after the third U.S. release of semiconductor export control measures against China in three years, the Ministry of Commerce of China on December 3 announced that in order to safeguard national security and interests, fulfill international obligations such as anti-proliferation, decided to strengthen the export control of related two-use items to the United States.

The Financial Times noted that China's uranium exports began to decline sharply from the end of 2024. Like rare-earth elements, uranium is not absolutely scarce globally, but its mining and refining is extremely challenging at the economic and technological level, often only as a by-product of zinc and ash. Russia has been an important supplier of uranium to the West, but since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Western sanctions on Russia have led to a shortage of uranium supply.

According to data released by relevant U.S. agencies, the global reserves of uranium have been identified at 8,600 tons, with the U.S. and China holding 45% and 41%, respectively, but in the past decade, China has cumulatively supplied 68.5% of the world's uranium.

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The U.S. Center for International Strategic Research (CSIS) said in a report at the end of last year that China¡¯s export controls on defense-related metals such as uranium and uranium would only lead China to surpass the U.S. in building defense capabilities.

Several situations prompted U.S. military-industrial giant Lockheed Martin to announce in August that it had reached an agreement with the Korean zinc industry to supply uranium.Jerome analyzed that in the past defense companies often purchased uranium from subcontractors and now had to personally quit, which is a "signal" that the market has become extremely panic.

However, Caroline Messecar, an analyst at Fastmarkets, said that finding alternative materials is extremely difficult because of the high demands of military optics on performance and precision. She stressed that even a slight drop in precision may require a redesign, which may be ¡°unacceptable¡± in some application scenarios.

Still, some companies have had to start looking for alternatives. US optical solution provider LightPath Technologies has been developing alternative materials with U.S. government funding. But Sam Rubin, the company¡¯s CEO, said directly, ¡°No normal minded person will re-design the existing system unless forced.¡±