China's rare earths curbs extend pressure on supply to Japan

SINGAPORE: China’s exports to Japan of several rare earths used for powerful magnets were negligible in May, data showed on Saturday, extending a months-long supply squeeze caused by a diplomatic dispute with Beijing over Taiwan.

Japan’s rare earth magnet makers are the world’s biggest outside China but like those elsewhere are overwhelmingly reliant on Chinese imports of key so-called heavy rare earths. Export controls on rare earths like dysprosium, terbium, and yttrium – used in specialty alloys and coatings– and several niche minor metals have become one of China’s most effective diplomatic levers.

There have been no shipments to Japan of terbium or dysprosium oxide since November and only tiny shipments of yttrium oxide since December, Chinese customs data for May released on Saturday showed.

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Beijing introduced export controls on types of heavy rare earths and the magnets that contain them in April 2025. It publicly tightened controls on exports to Japan in January, and twice again the following month, targeting major conglomerates.

Comments on Taiwan by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in November prompted a diplomatic breakdown between Beijing and Tokyo.

The export curbs have disrupted the availability of some magnets and led to a rush of Japanese investment into new supply of heavy rare earths.

Most recently, rare earth magnet manufacturer Shin-Etsu Chemical said it was planning to build its first new rare earth refining facility since 2008.

Japan is also the world’s largest consumer of chip metal gallium outside of China. It received some respite in May, with the first big shipment sent from China since December.

China’s exports of rare earth magnets were close to their historic levels in previous months, but were down 35% month on month in May, to their lowest volume since the same month a year earlier.