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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Geoscience and Society
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2024.1496579
This article is part of the Research Topic Exploration, Development, and Protection of Earth’s Resources and Environment: Methods, Techniques, Applications, Prospects, Insights, and Problems View all 30 articles

Evolution characteristics and invulnerability simulation analysis of global zirconium ore trade network

Provisionally accepted
Fanjie Luo Fanjie Luo 1Wei Liu Wei Liu 2Mao Xu Mao Xu 2Qunyi Liu Qunyi Liu 1JunBo Wang JunBo Wang 2*
  • 1 Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, China
  • 2 Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The burgeoning demand for zirconium, driven by the rapid development of smart devices, low-carbon energy technologies, and other emerging industries, underscores the importance of understanding the dynamics of its global trade network. However, the evolutionary patterns of the international zircon ore trade network and its resilience to disruptions remain unclear. This study constructs the international zircon ore trade network from 2013 to 2022, analyzes its structural evolution at both the network and node levels, and evaluates its robustness in 2022 using five attack strategies: random node removal, random edge removal, edge degradation, targeted removal based on node degree, and targeted removal based on node betweenness centrality. Our findings reveal that: (1) the international zircon ore trade network exhibits a shift in the import market towards Asia, with the export market dominated by Spain, the United States, and Brazil. China plays a crucial role as a bridge connecting various countries, while Japan exerts significant influence within the network; (2) the network is particularly vulnerable to targeted attacks based on node degree and betweenness centrality, highlighting the potential for significant disruption following the removal of key nodes. This study provides valuable insights for ensuring the stable and sustainable supply and consumption of zirconium resources, informing the development of targeted policies for countries and relevant industries.

    Keywords: Zirconium, trade network, Invulnerability, Supply chain security, Complex Network

    Received: 14 Sep 2024; Accepted: 23 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Luo, Liu, Xu, Liu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: JunBo Wang, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.