Analysis of China's rare earth import and export data in May

SHANGHAI, Jun 30 (SMM) - China imported 235.534 mt of rare earth permanent magnet materials in May, an increase of 60.2% year-on-year. China exported 4,218.624 mt of rare earth permanent magnets in May, an increase of 39.6% year-on-year, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs.

The top five import countries of Chinese rare earth permanent magnets in May were the United States (657.983 mt), Germany (613.218 mt), South Korea (513.189 mt), Vietnam (316.705 mt) and Italy (223.442 mt).

In terms of rare earth metal ore, China imported 2,742.5 mt of rare earth metal ore in May, all of which came from the United States, a YoY decrease of 63.5%. The value of China's imports of rare earth metal ore was $12.41 million in May, an increase of 13.4% on the year. The import volume of thorium ore and concentrate was relatively stable on a year-on-year basis in May , but fell sharply from the previous month.

China's imports of mixed rare earth carbonate  totalled 1,551.099 mt in May, an increase of 224% on the year and 237.6% on the month. Imports of mixed rare earth carbonate came mainly from Malaysia (1,059 mt), Russia (90.099 mt) and Myanmar (362 mt), followed by India (21 mt) and Estonia (22 mt).

China imported 2,993.565 mt of unlisted rare earth oxides in May, an increase of 68.1% year-on-year. The import value of unlisted rare earth oxides was $94.42 million, a year-on-year increase of 205.3%. abcde China exported 559.975 mt of unlisted rare earth oxides in May, an increase of 33.4% year-on-year. The export value of unlisted rare earth oxides was $12.381 million, an increase of 182.9% year-on-year.

Japan remained the top buyer of Chinese unlisted rare earth oxides, importing 400.002 mt from China in May.

In terms of single rare earth oxides, lanthanum oxide (825.804 mt) recorded the largest export volume in May, followed by cerium oxide, yttrium oxide, neodymium oxide, dysprosium oxide, terbium oxide, praseodymium oxide, and europium oxide.

In terms of single rare earth metals, lanthanum metal (147.015 mt) recorded the largest export volume in May, followed by cerium metal, neodymium metal, praseodymium metal, terbium metal, dysprosium metal and yttrium metal.