Myanmar plays an important role

Beijing intensifies controls on rare land exports, which leads to a global deficiency and exposes the dependence of industries on Chinese supply chains.

However, over recent years, China itself has become dependent on rare land supply from an unexpected source: the relatively small economy and the war in the war in Myanmar.

While China is the best producer in the world for rare Earth, it still imports raw materials that contain desired minerals from abroad.

Myanmar represents about 57 % of the total rare land imports in China last year, said Grassillin Baskran, director of the critical metal security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, for CNBC.

According to Chinese customs data, rare Earth exports in Myanmar to China have chosen greatly in 2018 and reached a peak of approximately 42,000 metric tons by 2023.

Baskaran added that the imports of Myanmar are also particularly high in the contents of the rare heavy terrestrial elements, which are generally less abundant in the Earth’s crust, which increases their value and scarcity.

“Myanmar production has greatly strengthened the center of China, which effectively gave Beijing a real monopoly on the rare global land supply chain – and a lot of influence it has today.”

The country has become a major source of two very rare lands, Dyspruosium and Turbium, who play decisive roles in high -tech manufacturing, including the defense, space, space, and renewable hardware.

“This dynamic has led to the supply chain in which the extraction is concentrated in Myanmar, while the course of the river is done and the value is mostly added in China,” Paskran said.

According to Meriman, the vast majority of IAC operations in the world in southern China were early to mid -2010. However, Beijing began to implement a new Environmental controls and standards In the rare land industry, many of these projects began to close.

Meriman said: “Myanmar, especially the north of the country, was seen as a major region of geology similar to many IC’s deposit areas inside China,” Meriman said.

“I have started seeing a quick structure of new IAC mines inside Myanmar, mainly replacing Chinese Chinese production. There was a lot of Chinese business participation in developing new IAC projects.”

Next, the rare land that these IAC miners extract in Myanmar to China mostly in the form of “rare ground oxides” for more treatment and refining, said Yue Wang, the chief adviser to the rare land in Wood Mackeenzie, for CNBC.

In 2024, a a report From Global Witness, a non -profit institution that focuses on environmental and human rights violations, said that China has effectively prepared a lot of rare land extraction to Myanmar “at a terrible cost of the environment and local societies.”

Since Nuba, there have been reports of supply disorders that caused mutations in the prices of some rare heavy land. According to Reuters Report, Kia was seeking to use resources as a lever against Beijing.

Chinese customs data show that rare Earth oxides imports from Myanmar decreased by more than a third in the first five months of the year compared to the same period last year.

“If Myanmar has stopped all rare ground feed stock exports to China, China will struggle to meet its demand on rare heavy land in the short term,” said Meriman from the Blu project.

It is not surprising that Beijing is looking to diversify its sources from the rare heavy land.

According to Meriman, there are IAC sediments in nearby countries, including Malaysia and Laos, where some projects were created with Chinese participation.

However, it is noted that environmental standards are expected to be higher in those countries, which will provide challenges for rare Earth miners.

China’s decision to reduce its extraction from rare heavy terrestrial elements may be a warning to other countries about the costs of developing such projects. A a report By the Chinese media group Caixin in 2022 documented how previous IAC operating sites in southern China left toxic water and polluted soil, which harmed the livelihoods of local farmers.