????鉭是一種需求量很大的稀有元素。誰掌握了鉭，誰就掌控了21世紀(jì)供應(yīng)鏈的關(guān)鍵一環(huán)：目前開采出來的鉭有一半被用于制造存儲(chǔ)電荷的電容器件。鉭價(jià)格高昂，每鎊（約合453克）售價(jià)高達(dá)130美元；相比之下，更為罕見的稀有元素鎢，每磅僅28美元。關(guān)于鉭，不可不知的信息包括以下幾點(diǎn)。

????鉭是什么

????鉭是化學(xué)元素周期表上的一種金屬，它沒有電抗性，也不會(huì)被腐蝕，很適合用于制造外科手術(shù)設(shè)備、埋植劑以及飛機(jī)發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)。極少量的鉭就能存儲(chǔ)大量的電荷?！般g很難被替代，”全球最大的鉭金屬供應(yīng)商Global Advanced Metals 公司首席執(zhí)行官布賴恩?埃利斯說。

????鉭的開采地在哪兒

????咨詢機(jī)構(gòu)Merchant Research & Consulting稱，鉭的主要開采地包括巴西（26％）、澳大利亞（12％）以及莫桑比克（17％）等國家。去年，在剛果民主共和國，反政府軍控制了幾個(gè)鉭礦，這個(gè)政治沖突導(dǎo)致全球鉭供應(yīng)量下降了10％。

????鉭的價(jià)格為什么這么高昂

????鉭的供應(yīng)不穩(wěn)定，而需求一直在增長。此外，據(jù)調(diào)研公司Tin & Tantalum Supply Chain Initiative的凱?尼莫稱，美國的多德-弗蘭克法案要求供應(yīng)商記錄金屬的產(chǎn)地，將導(dǎo)致其最終成本上升多達(dá)2％。

????誰將從中受益

????電容器供應(yīng)商AVX與KEMET。這兩家公司都向英特爾（Intel）和摩托羅拉（Motorola）供貨。由于生產(chǎn)成本原因，Global Advanced Metals最近關(guān)閉了位于澳大利亞Wodgina的大型鉭礦，這將導(dǎo)致（鉭）的價(jià)格上漲。

????譯者：項(xiàng)航

????Tantalum is a rare element in high demand. To control tantalum is to control a key part of the 21st-century supply chain: Half of all tantalum mined goes into electronic capacitors, which store an electric charge. And it is expensive -- $130 per pound, vs. its rarer cousin, tungsten, at $28. Here's what you need to know.

????What it is

????A metal on the periodic table, tantalum is nonreactive and won't corrode, making it good for surgical equipment, implants, and aircraft engines. A little bit of tantalum holds a lot of electrical charge. "It is not easily substitutable," says Bryan Ellis, CEO of Global Advanced Metals, the biggest supplier of tantalum.

????Where it's mined

????Brazil (26%), Australia (12%), and Mozambique (17%), according to Merchant Research & Consulting. Last year rebels took control of several tantalum mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the government response cut 10% of the global supply.

????Why it's expensive

????Supply is erratic; demand is only increasing. Plus, Dodd-Frank legislation requires suppliers to document where their metals come from, adding as much as 2% to the final cost, says Kay Nimmo of the Tin & Tantalum Supply Chain Initiative.

????Who it's benefiting

????Capacitor suppliers AVX (AVX) and KEMET (KEM). Both companies sell to Intel (INTC) and Motorola. Global Advanced Metals recently shut down its massive Wodgina mine in Australia owing to production costs, which will cause a price increase.