Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Illustration of the national flag of the People’s Republic of China and mining.
Craig Hastings | Moment Ghetto images
Beijing enhances the control of the export of rare earthly, causing global deficiency and exposing the dependence of industries on Chinese supply chains.
However, in recent years, China itself has relied on rare earth reserves from an unexpected source: the relatively small and torn Economy of Myanmar.
While China is the best manufacturer of rare lands in the world, it still brings raw materials containing covenant metals from abroad.
Myanmar represented about 57% of the total imports of rare earthquake in China last year, Gracelin Bascaran, director of the Security Program of Critical Minerals at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CNBC.
According to Chinese customs data, Myanmar’s rare exports to China have significantly dialed in 2018 and reached a peak of nearly 42,000 metric tonnes by 2023.
Bascaran added that imports from Myanmar is also particularly high in the heavy content of rare earth elements, which are generally less abundant in the earth’s crust, increasing their value and shortage.
“Myanmar production has significantly strengthened China’s dominant position, effectively giving Beijing de facto monopoly on the global supply chain for heavy rare ground – and a large part of the lever that will be present today.”
The country has become a key source of two very sought after heavy rare lands, dyspressia and terbius, which play decisive roles in high -tech production, including defense and military, aerospace and renewable energy sources.
“This dynamics have a chain of supply in which the extraction is concentrated in Myanmar, while the processing and addition of value are made mainly in China,” Basaran said.
Why Myanmar?
Myanmar is home to deposits that tend to have a higher heavy content of rarely, David Meriman, Director of Research at Project Blue, CNBC told.
These “ion adsorption clay” or IAC deposits are operated by extracting methods that apply chemical reagents to clay – and this comes with high environmental costs.
According to Meriman, the majority of global IAC operations were in southern China in early mid-2010. But as Beijing began to apply new Control and environmental standards In the industry of rare ground, many of these projects have begun to close.
“Myanmar, in particular to the north of the country, is seen as a key region that had a similar geology in many of the IAC regions within China,” Meriman said.
“You started to see the new Iac mines in Myanmar quite quickly, essentially replacing home Chinese production. There was a lot of Chinese business participation in the development of these new IAC projects.”
The rare lands extracted from these IAC miners in Myanmar are then sent to China the most in the form of “rare earth oxides” for more cultivation and refining, said Yue Wang, a senior consultant in Wood Mackezy, said Yue Wang.
In 2024 a report From a global witness, a non -profit, focused on abuses of environmental and human rights, said China has effectively commissioned much of its rare Earth extraction to Myanmar “on terrible costs of the environment and local communities.”
China’s rare land risks
The reading of China from Myanmar on rare land has also opened it for risks from the supply chain, experts said.
According to studies by global witness, most of the heavy rare lands of Myanmar originate from the northern country Kachin, which borders on China. However, after Myanmar’s violent military coup in 2021, the military junta struggles to maintain control over the territory against the background of opposing public and armed groups.
“Myanmar is a risky jurisdiction to rely on, given the continuing civil war. In 2024, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a group of armed rebels, seized sites responsible for half of the heavy production of rare lands,” said Bascaran to CSIS.
After seizure, there are reports of interruptions of supplies causing spikes in the prices of some heavy rare lands. According to Reuters A report, Kia strives to use resources as a leverage against Beijing.
Chinese customs data show that the import of rare Earth oxides from Myanmar fell by more than one -third in the first five months of the year compared to the same period last year.
“If Myanmar ceases all the exports of the foods of rare eating on Earth in China, China will struggle to respond to its demand for heavy rare lands in the short term,” said Meriman on Project Blue.
Not surprisingly, Beijing seeks to diversify his sources into heavy rare lands.
According to Meriman, there are IAC deposits in nearby countries, including Malaysia and Laos, where some projects have been created with the participation of China.
However, he notes that environmental standards are expected to be higher in these countries, which will be challenging for the miners of rare earthly.
China’s decision to reduce its own extraction of heavy rare elements of the Earth may serve as a warning to other countries for the cost of developing such projects. A report From the Chinese media group Caixin in 2022, it documented how former IAC operations in southern China left behind toxic water and soil, injuring the livelihood of local farmers.