China has a near monopoly on these materials. It will be very interesting to see how they will try to keep control over the market.
Not so much a monopoly on the materials, but they
will produce them without being encumbered by everyone from the 'preserve the pretty piece of nowhere we never would see from the ground' to the 'save the three winged butterfly' crowds.
Lawsuits by such obstructionists here make it virtually impossible to develop such resources.
In the absence of environmental group concerns and, for that matter HSE considerations in general, along with a government which will make that production happen, they have the supply of materials pretty much sewed up. I have little doubt that other regions may have significant reserves of Rare Earth minerals, but other geoplolitical considerations apply.