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Beijing has increased control over the rare exporter of the Earth, causing a global deficit and exposing the industry dependence on Chinese supply networks.
However, in recent years, China itself has become dependent on a rare land from an unexpected source: a relatively small and destroyed war economy.
While China is the main manufacturer of rare land in the world, it still imports raw materials containing the desired metals from the border.
Last year, Myanmar accounts for about 57% of the total rare land in China, said CNBC Gracelin Baskaran, Director of the Security Program Critical Fixture at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
According to Chinese customs data, the rare land of Myanmar to China has taken significantly in 2018 and by 2023 reached a peak of almost 42,000 metric tons.
Basqueran added that imports from Myanmar also especially with the large content of the elements of reed soil, which are usually less rich in the earth’s crust, enhancing their value and deficiency.
“The production of Myanmar has greatly strengthened the dominant position of China, effectively giving Beijing a monopoly over the global chain of heavy rare lands – and most of the leverage it renders today.”
The country has become a key source of two very popular heavy rare lands, discs and terbia, which play a crucial role in high -tech production, including in the defense and military, aerospace and renewable sector.
“This dynamics gave rise to a supply chain in which the extraction is concentrated in Myanmar, while China is processed and the cost is under the course,” Basqueran said.
Why Myanmar?
In Myanmar there are deposits that usually have higher rare content on rare land, said David Merriman, Director of Project Blue, CNBC research.
These “ion adsorption clays” or IAC deposits are operated by leaching methods that apply chemical reagents to clay – and which are supplied with high environmental costs.
According to Merriman, the vast majority of world operations were in southern China in the early-mid-2010s. But when Beijing started implementing new Environmental Control and Standards In the rare land industry, many such projects began to close.
“Myanmar, especially north of the country, was regarded as a key region that had a similar geology with many areas of the deposit in China,” Meriman said.
“You started to see a rather rapid assembly from new mines in Myanmar, essentially replacing home -made. There was a lot of involvement in the Chinese business in the development of these new IAC projects.”
Then the rare land extracted by these miners of the IAC in Myanmar are sent to China, mainly in the form of “rare oxides” for further processing and processing, Yue van, senior consultant for rare land in Wood Mackenzi, CNBC.
In 2024, a report From the world witness, a non -profit organization, focused on ecological and human rights violations that China has effectively surpassed most of its rare land in Myanmar “for the terrible price of the surrounding and local communities.”
Chinese rare land risks
Experts said China’s dependence on Myanmar for rare land opened it to the risks of the supply chain.
According to a global witness research, most heavy rare land from Myanmar arise from the northern state bordering China. However, after the brutal military coup of Myanmar in 2021, the military junta fought for maintaining control over the territory against the background of the opposition by public and armed groups.
“Myanmar is a risky jurisdiction that they are counting on, given the current civil war. In 2024, the Independence Army (KIA), a group of armed rebels, confiscated the sites that are responsible for half heavy rare lands in the world,” Basquera said.
Since the capture, there have been reports of supplies that caused spikes in the prices of some heavy rare lands. According to Reuters Report, KIA sought to use resources as a lever against Beijing.
Chinese customs data show that imports of rare excavation from Myanmar in the first five months fell by a third compared to the same period last year.
“If Myanmar stopped all exports of rare land reserves to China, China will fight for meeting its demand for heavy rare land in the short term,” said Merrian Project Blue.
Not surprisingly, Beijing is looking for diversification of its sources of heavy rare land.
According to Merriman, there is a poppy in the nearby countries, including Malaysia and Laos, where some projects were created with the participation of Chinese.
However, he notes that the environmental standards are expected to be higher in the countries that will represent problems for rare land.
China’s decision to reduce its own extraction of elements of heavy rare land can serve as a warning to other countries about the cost of developing such projects. A report In 2022, the Chinese media group recorded how former IAC operations in southern China left behind toxic water and contaminated soil by damaging local farmers.
