CHINA's overseas shipments of rare earth magnets halved in May from April, falling to their lowest levels in more than five years due to export curbs, reports Reuters.
Beijing said this month that it would speed up its approval process, a concession made after the US and china agreed to dial back trade tensions. In the meantime, however, industry sources say Chinese customs officials have become increasingly cautious about processing rare earth cargoes.
This is particularly so for rare earth magnets because there is only a single code to cover magnets despite there being a variety of chemistries, said the sources who were not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified.
China, the world's largest rare earth magnet producer accounting for over 90 per cent of global supply, decided in early April to impose restrictions on exports of seven medium-to-heavy rare earth products and some magnets. That's unsettled supply chains crucial to auto, aerospace, semiconductor and military equipment sectors around the world.
SeaNews Turkey
Beijing said this month that it would speed up its approval process, a concession made after the US and china agreed to dial back trade tensions. In the meantime, however, industry sources say Chinese customs officials have become increasingly cautious about processing rare earth cargoes.
This is particularly so for rare earth magnets because there is only a single code to cover magnets despite there being a variety of chemistries, said the sources who were not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified.
China, the world's largest rare earth magnet producer accounting for over 90 per cent of global supply, decided in early April to impose restrictions on exports of seven medium-to-heavy rare earth products and some magnets. That's unsettled supply chains crucial to auto, aerospace, semiconductor and military equipment sectors around the world.
SeaNews Turkey
