VINACHEM

China boosted shipments of rare earth magnets in June — including to the US — after a global supply squeeze that threatened factory closures and inflamed trade tensions.

Total cargoes of the magnets rose to 3,188 tons last month, according to Chinese data on Sunday, more than double volumes of 1,238 tons in May in the midst of China’s curbs. Flows to the US alone rose to 353 tons, up from just 46 tons. Total shipments were still substantially lower than before Beijing launched export controls in early April.

China put restrictions on seven of 17 rare earth elements, which also extended to the powerful magnets used in high-tech manufacturing from electric vehicles to smartphones and fighter jets. That threatened deep disruptions to US industry and encouraged President Donald Trump to agree a trade truce.

After trade negotiators struck an agreement in June in Geneva to ease tensions, Trump said China had agreed to fully supply rare earths and magnets. On July 1, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said shipments of magnets from China had picked up but still weren’t flowing fast enough.

China’s curbs didn’t just target the US, with manufacturers worldwide fretting about the magnet shortage, and governments appealing to Beijing for relief. The export controls complicated already fragile ties between China and the European Union, where carmakers are heavily reliant on Chinese magnets.

Not enough

The customs data supports anecdotal reports of an improvement in supplies, but also confirms that flows remain well below typical levels. Overall, June’s volume was still only about two thirds of last year’s monthly average.

China makes about 90% of the world’s rare earth permanent magnets, and the magnet shock of the last few months has added urgency to efforts by western governments to build supply chains that don’t run through China. Earlier this month, the Pentagon agreed to buy a stake in MP Materials Co. — the only American rare earths miner — to fund construction of a major new magnets plant.

The EU has seen some small improvements in the issuing of licenses for its magnets supplies since a meeting between the bloc’s trade chief Maros Sefcovic and Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao last month, according to a senior EU official, who declined to be identified discussing a sensitive matter. But “systemic” issues remain and the subject will be on the agenda of the EU-China summit in Beijing later this week, the person said.

China hasn’t approved any license for magnet exports to Indian automakers since April, and some 30 applications are pending, Shailesh Chandra, the president of the Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturers, said at a press event in Mumbai on Tuesday. Supplies to India rose to 172 tons in June, up from 150 tons in May.  – Source: mining.com