Japan and the United States are planning to jointly build a lab-grown diamond factory within the United States. This project is a major focus of Japan’s $550 billion investment plan in the United States, highlighting the strategic importance of lab-grown diamonds as the Chinese authorities have recently imposed export controls on them.
Lab-grown diamonds are a crucial material for semiconductor manufacturing. Sources familiar with the matter stated to Reuters that this project is expected to be one of the first publicly announced collaborative projects, with details likely to be officially disclosed before Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takai’s visit to the United States in March.
“The United States aims to accelerate domestic production of lab-grown diamonds. By involving Japanese companies, Washington hopes to establish a US-Japan supply chain that is not dependent on China,” said the sources.
Currently, the majority of lab-grown diamonds worldwide are produced in China. Lab-grown diamonds are one of the hardest known materials and hold an irreplaceable position in the industrial and technological sectors.
In addition to their use in ultra-fine polishing for semiconductors and heat dissipation in advanced electronic systems, lab-grown diamonds can also be used for hard metal processing in quantum devices. Furthermore, lab-grown diamonds have dual-use value and are crucial materials for manufacturing ammunition and radar components.
Sources revealed that the lab-grown diamond factory project involves “Element Six,” a subsidiary of the global diamond leader De Beers Group.
In addition to collaboration on critical materials, the initial list of investment projects may also include a large-scale power generation project by Hitachi Ltd and data center construction by SoftBank Group.
In order to implement these investment plans, two Japanese state-owned agencies, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), will provide financial support such as equity, loans, and loan guarantees.
Currently, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry remains discreet about specific projects, only stating that they are closely communicating with the U.S. to swiftly establish the project list, which has yet to be finalized.
Hitachi Ltd confirmed to Reuters that they are in discussions with the governments of Japan and the U.S., but declined to provide further comments.