China’s May rare earth export falls as supply tapers off amid a worsening trade war with the biggest buyer of the elements
- Rare earth exports fell 16 per cent to 3,640 tonnes from April, according to customs data
- Overseas shipments fell 7.2 per cent to 19,265 tonnes in the first five months of 2019, compared with the same period last year
China, the world’s largest refiner and supplier of rare earth, cut back on overseas shipments of the elements in the first five months of 2019, amid growing calls by nationalists to use the country’s stockpile as a tit-for-tat response in its trade war with the United States.
Exports of rare earth elements fell 16 per cent in May from a month earlier to 3,640 tonnes, according to the General Administration of Customs data. Overseas shipments for the first five months of 2019 fell 7.2 per cent to 19,265 tonnes, compared to the same period last year.
The declines are pointing to the use of export permits over rare earth as leverage in China’s trade negotiations with the US, the world’s biggest importer of the elements. The US was the world’s largest importer of refined rare earth elements, with 59 per cent of imports valued at US$92 million sourced from China, according to data by the US International Trade Commission.
“China should still take an open attitude towards the trade tensions, treating trade deals and foreign companies friendly,” said Qiao Yide, vice-chairman of the Shanghai Development Research Foundation, a non-profit institution established with the aim of promoting research on the issues of development. “Even if a trade agreement can’t be reached in future, China should reform its markets to make it fair and transparent in the global trading system.”
Rare earths are 17 elements on the periodic table with names like europium and ytterbium which share similar chemical and physical properties. Although as abundant in the earth’s crust as other metals, these elements are “rare” because they always occur in nature as compounds and oxides, which make them extremely expensive and environmentally polluting to refine and extract in commercially viable quantities.
They are used to provide precision polishes to flat-panel displays, remove impurities in steelmaking and to make phosophers used in incandescent and LED lights. Some are even used as pigments in ceramics. Another commonly used rare earth is neodymium, found in permanent magnets in motors, miniature amplifiers and speakers.
