Insider Brief
A report by CIRCULAR REPUBLIC and kiutra warns that the quantum technology sector faces major supply-chain risks due to heavy dependence on scarce raw materials largely controlled by China and Brazil.
The report argues that quantum hardware companies still have time to build circular supply chains before industry standards and supplier relationships become locked in, unlike the semiconductor and battery sectors.
The organizations are proposing a Circular Quantum Industry Alliance, backed by the European Quantum Industry Consortium, to promote recycling, resilience, and sustainability across Europe’s emerging quantum ecosystem.
PRESS RELEASE — The quantum technology sector is entering its scaling phase at precisely the wrong moment to ignore where its materials come from. A new report by CIRCULAR REPUBLIC and Munich-based cryogenic company kiutra documents a structural vulnerability at the heart of the quantum ambition: the hardware depends on a narrow set of critical raw materials: rare earth elements, niobium, gallium, indium, and helium-3, for which Europe produces a negligible share of what it needs. China dominates rare earth elements, gallium, and germanium. Brazil controls 92% of global niobium supply.
