China Rare Earth Exports Rose Slightly MoM in May

SHANGHAI, Jun 10 (SMM) - China exported 4,862.5 mt of rare earths in May 2022, up 9.84% YoY; the cumulative exports from January-May were 21,969.7 mt, up 10.9% YoY.

Due to the lack of sophisticated rare earth industry chain overseas, the foreign market relies heavily on Chinese rare earths although there are many projects under construction, which face a more complex development environment and slow progress in construction.

Rare earth permanent magnets basically dominate the export market of rare earths. The export volume of rare earth permanent magnets in April was 4,601 mt, up 7.7% YoY. In May, after the domestic pandemic situation improved, the downstream industry demand gradually recovered, and the magnetic material enterprises raised their operating rates compared with April. Therefore, the export volume increased.

In June, Europe and the United States have entered the summer vacation period and ushered in the off-season, and it is expected that rare earth exports are unlikely to rise.

China imported 7,617.6 mt of rare earths in May 2022, down 35.15% YoY, while the cumulative imports from January to May were 49,646.7 mt, down 8.5% YoY. In late April, the Myanmar boarder port opened, but the import of auxiliary materials into Myanmar still needed to be disinfected and isolated, hence the mining work in Myanmar was hampered, resulting in less imports by China. In addition, the US MP mine production posted limited growth. And according to the long-term planning, the current focus is to promote the separation from rare earth concentrate to oxide, and expand its business scope to the downstream in the future.