Bloomberg: Japan's Import of Heavy Rare Earths Severely Constrained

According to a report by Bloomberg (Japanese edition) on June 26: In Japan's rare earth imports, China almost monopolizes heavy rare earths, and Japan's imports have remained stagnant.

According to trade statistics released by Japan's Ministry of Finance on the 26th, Japan imported approximately 14 tons of yttrium oxide from China in May—only 17% of last year’s monthly average. Imports of dysprosium-iron alloy from China were zero. This alloy is primarily used in manufacturing neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets, as well as in applications involving giant magnetostrictive alloys, opto-magnetic recording materials, and nuclear fuel diluents—and also serves as a nuclear fuel diluent in the nuclear industry.

In response to Takanao Hayashi’s remarks in November last year about a so-called “emergency state in Taiwan” made during a parliamentary session, China has swiftly tightened controls over its exports of rare earths to Japan.

It is reported that China holds a 99% share in the technology and production capacity for separating and refining heavy rare earths used in electric vehicle motors, wind power generation, and defense equipment. If China continues to halt exports to Japan, it could be catastrophic for many Japanese domestic manufacturing plants.

Tadatsugu Sasaki, Research Director at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ), commented: “China’s exports of heavy rare earths to Japan are not entirely zeroed out, but export controls are stricter than those for light rare earths, in order to maintain China’s absolute dominance.”

Meanwhile, China has cracked down severely on smuggling of controlled items. Two Japanese nationals working at a large motor manufacturing plant in Dalian, Liaoning Province—Fuji Electric—were detained by customs in late May, suspected of repeatedly disguising and underreporting shipments of processed rare earth products from China to Japan in 2025.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1869033426232323/

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