Opinion From egg cartons to rare earths, global supply chains are about to get a lot shorter
listener: the vast majority of WA’s egg cartons are manufactured in China and imported.
The listener who alerted me to the Chinese egg cartons is applying for government grants to help him manufacture them locally in WA. “Supply chain disruptions cause general economic disruption and key commodity shortages, which then in turn can, in fact, drive aggressive national behaviour and international instability. And ironically, this reactive aggressive national behaviour can happen even if the health of a national economy itself depends on continued economic interdependence.”
“If he controlled Ukraine, his control over key strategic minerals would be even more dominant, giving him leverage akin to OPEC’s energy stranglehold in 1973.” There is also titanium sponge, a refined product used in the production of jet engines, fans, disks and frames. “Russia and China could then use their de facto dominance of the global titanium sponge industry as a tool of geopolitical leverage, as they have with other industries such as uranium and steel.”