China bans export of rare earth technologies

Contact Counsellor

Last Updated24/12/2023

China, the world's top processor of rare earths, banned the export of technology to extract and separate the strategic metals, as it overhauled a list of technologies deemed key to national security.

It also banned the export of production technology for rare earth metals and alloy materials as well as technology to prepare some rare earth magnets.
The decision is made amid efforts by Europe and the United States to reduce their dependence on rare earths supplied by China.
- China currently dominates 90% of the world's refined output.

Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets for use in electric vehicles, wind turbines and other electronics.’
These include the fifteen lanthanides on the periodic table in addition to scandium and yttrium that show similar physical and chemical properties to the lanthanides.
The 17 Rare Earths are cerium (Ce), dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), holmium (Ho), lanthanum (La), lutetium (Lu), neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), scandium (Sc), terbium (Tb), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and yttrium (Y).
These minerals have unique magnetic, luminescent, and electrochemical properties
They are used in many modern technologies, including consumer electronics, computers and networks, communications, national defense etc.
Even futuristic technologies need these REEs.
China has mastered the solvent extraction process to refine the strategic minerals,
Western rare earth companies have struggled to deploy due to technical complexities and pollution concerns.