On May 16, Singapore's official media reported that the Australian company Lynas Rare Earth produced its first batch of dysprosium oxide products at its rare earth factory in Malaysia, becoming the only commercial producer outside of China to separate heavy rare earths. According to its first-quarter 2025 report, the aforementioned factory will begin producing terbium oxide in June.

Singapore's official media was elated, with the article using a big headline: "Breaking China's long-term monopoly..." Singaporeans seem to be getting a bit carried away.

According to foreign media reports, the company also uses extraction technology.

Experts analyze that Australia's production capacity in the heavy rare earth field is unlikely to break China's monopoly in the short term. Although Australia has signed an $8.5 billion rare earth cooperation agreement with the United States and plans to invest $3 billion to develop rare earth mineral resources worth $53 billion locally, its rare earth processing technology still faces major challenges:

1. Technical Bottlenecks

Australia lags behind China in rare earth separation and purification technologies, with more than 80% of global rare earth separation capacity concentrated in China. China has a complete industrial chain advantage, from mining to refining, while Australia has obvious shortcomings in precision equipment, process stability, and environmental control. For example, although Australian companies have broken through the dysprosium oxide separation technology in Malaysia, the overall processing efficiency still needs verification.

2. Cost and Schedule

Establishing local processing facilities requires investments of billions of dollars and progress is slow. The rare earth processing plant being built by the US and Australia is expected to have an annual capacity of only 100 tons of gallium metal (used in radar equipment), far lower than China's annual demand for military-grade rare earth materials (for example, each F-35 fighter jet requires 408 kg of rare earth materials). In addition, American companies previously attempted to establish separation facilities in Australia but failed due to high costs and technical barriers, indicating that it is difficult to achieve breakthroughs in the short term.

3. Policy Support

China has strengthened its control over key minerals through export restrictions, but the US-Australia agreement attempts to bypass these restrictions by investing in mineral development and factory construction. This cooperation may alleviate some demand, but it cannot replace China's leading position in advanced material R&D, large-scale production, and full industry chain integration.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846636366760972/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.