(April 20): China’s exports of rare-earth magnets and materials to Japan fell sharply in March, as souring relations between the Asian nations heighten concerns about a potential supply squeeze.
Volumes of magnets shipped to Japan in the month fell 17% from February to a nine-month low of about 184 tonnes, according to data from China’s customs administration released on Monday. Volumes of intermediate materials including oxides slumped by nearly 90%.
Flows of rare earths from China have been closely watched after Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks about Taiwan prompted fierce backlash from Beijing late last year. Since then, Chinese authorities have rolled out tougher regulations on exports used for both civilian and military purposes, and state media have warned that supplies of rare earths would face greater scrutiny.
“It’s quite likely that the tighter export control has finally started impacting rare earth magnets' delivery to Japan," said Tadanori Sasaki, a senior research director at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan. Sasaki had previously said that it would take at least three months of data to assess the impact of political tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.
Japan stands out among developed economies for its domestic rare-earth magnet industry, which procures some of its raw materials from Australian miner Lynas Rare Earths Ltd. Still, the country remains highly dependent on China, especially for supplies of scarcer “heavy” rare-earth elements needed for high-performance magnets.
The March data released Monday showed that China’s exports of rare-earth compounds and other intermediate products dropped to 893 tonnes, down from 1,468 tonnes the previous month. Shipments of rare earths in metal form fell to 58 tonnes, down from 137 tonnes in February.
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Chinese trade figures tend to show distortions in the first quarter due to the Lunar New Year holiday, which puts a lot of businesses on hold. This year, the holiday fell in the second half of February, which could have led to a slow start in the month of March.
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