Analysis of China's Rare Earth Export and Import in September

SHANGHAI, Mar 25 (SMM) - Customs data showed that China imported 8,209.5 mt of rare earth metal ore in September 2022, a year-on-year increase of 46.17% and a month-on-month increase of 149.11%. Imports for January and September totalled 59,800 mt, up 6.74% from the previous year.  

China imported 1,161.452 mt of unspecified rare earth oxide in September, an increase of 665.55% on the year and a decline of 22.11% on the month. Imports of unspecified rare earth oxide totalled 6,745.39 mt from January to November, a YoY decrease of 58.75%. On the other hand, China exported 258.78 mt of unspecified rare earth oxide in September, down 48.37% from the previous year and 17.49% from the previous month. The total exports amounted to 3,109.63 mt in the first nine months, down 34.89% from the comparable months last year.    

China mainly imported unspecified rare earth oxide from Myanmar and Malaysia in September. The imports from the two countries accounted for 98% of the total, followed by Vietnam and Japan. It is worth pointing out that imports from Myanmar in September dropped 210.76 mt from August. In terms of export, the domestic exports mainly flowed to Japan in September, which stood at 134.47 mt, down 12.71 mt from the previous month.

Imports of mixed rare earth carbonate ore in September declined 77.66% on the year and 81.71% on the month to 21 mt. Total imports of mixed rare earth carbonate ore were 1,474.92 mt from January to September, a YoY decrease of 63.72%. Imports of mixed rare earth carbonate ore in September were largely from Indian, while the imports from Myanmar saw a MoM decline of 93.83 mt.  

On the whole, China exported 37,900 mt of mixed rare earth carbonate ore in January-September this year, up 6.26 % over the year, while the total value of exports increased 76.5% to 5.34 billion yuan. At present, the pandemic has made a comeback across the country, which tightened the supply of rare earth. The downstream magnetic materials factories mainly focused on digesting in-plant inventories, and the inquiries and transactions in the spot market were muted. The rare earth prices generally stabilised.