By Lewis Jackson
BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s rare earth exports fell 31% in September from August, customs data showed on Monday, the third straight month of declines.
New controls that were introduced by China last week have threatened a trade truce with Washington and the three months of declines are expected to raise questions about its agreements with Europe and the U.S. to ramp up exports after China’s decision to restrict shipments in April triggered shortages worldwide.
China, the world’s largest exporter of rare earths, sold 4,000.3 tonnes of rare earths in September, down 30.9% from August, marking the lowest level since February, figures from the General Administration of Customs of China showed.
For the year-to-date period, exports hit 48,355.7 tonnes, up 13% from a year earlier.
China’s exports of rare earths fell sharply in April after it imposed export restrictions in response to U.S. tariffs. Shipments recovered steadily until June, when they hit an all-time high, though they have fallen every month since then.
“The obvious question is whether China restricted exports, particularly to the U.S. or the EU,” said Cory Combs, head of critical mineral research at Trivium China.
“I suspect there are several factors at work, not just one big driver, like a license crackdown. But we’ll only know for sure after the country-level export data comes out later this month.”
Monday’s data covered a period before China on Friday expanded its export controls on rare earths. After that decision was made, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on China, which threatened to end a trade truce that was extended in August.
China produces over 90% of the world’s processed rare earths and rare-earth magnets. The 17 rare earths are essential materials in products ranging from electric vehicles to aircraft engines and military radars.
Rare earth exports are volatile and large swings are common. It was also unclear what products and countries were affected because Monday’s data was aggregated. A complete breakdown will be released on Oct. 20.
For example, even though total rare earth exports fell in July and August, exports of rare earth magnets rose.
(Reporting by Lewis Jackson in Beijing; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)
