This week in The Chem Ledger: Solvay aims to supply 30% of Europe's rare earth needs by 2030, Mitsubishi advances hydrogen-based ironmaking, and Continental AG restructures to focus on its tire business. Dive into the latest developments across #RareEarths #Energy #Manufacturing #SpecialtyChemicals and more.

Images: BASF, Solvay

https://karanmaindan.com/the-chem-ledger-25/

Trump #tariffs won't bring #manufacturing back to US: CNBC supply chain survey

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/14/tariffs-wont-bring-manufacturing-back-to-us-supply-chain-survey.html?__source=androidappshare

Half of companies say bringing manufacturing back would double costs.

That's Late Stage Capitalism - China Style ->

"China still dominates shoe production, but its share of global exports has slipped by 10 percentage points over the past decade, with much of that going to rival hubs like Vietnam and Indonesia, according to the Yearbook.

Zhou’s plant now employs fewer than 20 workers. “The future is bleak and hopeless if we continue like this,” says Zhou from his showroom in a mostly empty wholesale market in a Guangzhou suburb focused on international trade. “It would be difficult to return to how it was before.”

Factories across China at the low-end of manufacturing are facing the same dilemma — either they invest in automation that shrinks the number of jobs, or they slowly wither away.

The result, in the view of researchers and economists, is a painful shift away from low-cost, labour-intensive production that could leave millions of older, lower skilled workers in the lurch.

Analysis of 12 labour-intensive manufacturing industries between 2011 and 2019 by academics at Changzhou University, Yancheng Teachers University and Henan University found that average employment shrank by roughly 14 per cent, or nearly 4mn roles, between 2011 and 2019. Roles in the textile industry shrank 40 per cent over the period.

An FT analysis of the same 12 sectors between 2019 and 2023 found a further decline of 3.4mn jobs."

https://www.ft.com/content/7640fe64-006a-4d46-9564-cbb2bd89ebd4

#China #Manufacturing #ShoeProduction #Capitalism #Automation

Steel as essential for defence: 'Britain’s steelworks are anyway not entirely self-sufficient. They rely on imports of coal and iron ore from countries like Australia, Brazil, South Africa and Sweden. Nor were they self-sufficient in times of war. In the period leading up to the second world war, Britain sourced large quantities of iron from Sweden to make weapons'

https://www.economist.com/britain/2025/04/13/britains-rushed-muddled-intervention-in-the-steel-industry

#UK #steel #manufacturing #BritishSteel