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Another worrying thing is that something similar to the urea water crisis can happen to other items as well. In fact, magnesium, which is mainly used to make automobiles and smartphones, has nearly quadrupled in price in just two months, and aluminum and silicon are also on the rise in recent years.



All in all, as China cuts production, prices are skyrocketing in the aftermath. In addition, Korea relies on China for more than 80% of lithium, a key material for batteries.



Reporter Lee Seong-hoon pointed it out.



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China has not lifted restrictions on export of urea, as it has only given out the amount already contracted.



One of the causes of the crisis is the ongoing power shortage in China.



The ban on the import of Australian coal, which joined the US anti-Chinese front, is a superficial reason, and fundamentally, the excessive use of coal to meet the carbon reduction target set by President Xi Jinping has exacerbated the electricity shortage.



This attitude of the Chinese government has led to a decline in the production of various raw materials and has a shock to the global supply chain.



In this situation, we have 1,850 items that are over 80% dependent on Chinese imports, so something like a urea crisis could happen at any time.



[Yeon Won-ho / Associate Research Fellow, Institute for Foreign Economic Policy: It is an item that depends on one region, but a natural disaster or a pandemic has occurred.

Then it would be a huge problem.

Disruption in supply chains could persist if not well prepared globally…

.]



Instead of a division of labor in which the world supplies raw materials cheaply produced in a specific country, the need for self-reliance is growing due to variables such as the US-China hegemony competition, climate crisis, and carbon neutrality.



[Kangcheon-gu / Inha University, Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Visiting Professor: It is very important not only to price competitiveness, but also to establish a stable supply chain.

The government needs to control the stars by making market research and such predictions possible...

.]



It is pointed out that even though it is not a rare resource, it is necessary to diversify the supply chain by conducting a full investigation of essential items that are highly dependent on imports and the situation in which they are made into strategic goods.



(Video editing: Jo Moo-hwan)