Yttrium’s most critical use is in thermal barrier coatings that protect jet engines from extreme heat, as well as in in heat-resistant coatings for semiconductor manufacturing tools, ceramics, phosphors and lasers.

the shovel makers won’t be happy about this.

yttrium oxide costs about US$1,150/kg outside China, 179 times its price two years ago, against about US$9/kg inside China, according to Argus data cited by the FT

Damn

No glowing neon crystals for you

mmm tasty ytrium

These rare-earths embargos are going to cause so many shakeups of western-aligned governments, alienating their domestic capitalists from the pro-US ruling parties.

The US cannot transmute USD into rare-earth minerals, and these countries are going to have to come down from the clouds to reality, and either pick China over the US, or accept ruin of their economies.