Research Report on China's Rare Earth Metal Ore Import, 2023-2032
Rare earth metal ore is a mineral containing rare earth elements. Rare earths are called modern industrial vitamins and are widely used in metallurgy, military, petrochemicals, glass ceramics, agriculture, new materials and other fields. Driven by the carbon neutral goal of carbon emissions peak, the rapid development of new energy vehicles, wind power generation, inverter air conditioners and energy-saving elevators has boosted the market demand for rare earths.
China is one of the major producers and exporters of rare earth products in the world. China needs to import a large amount of rare earth metal ores every year because of the insufficient production of China's indigenous rare earth ores. According to CRI's analysis, in 2021, China imported 75,700 tons of rare earth metal ores, up 5.39% year-on-year, and the import value was US$312 million, up 163.36% year-on-year. from January to November 2022, China imported 72,100 tons of rare earth metal ores, up 0.85% year-on-year, and the import value was US$540 million, up 86.72% year-on-year.
In 2021, China imported rare earth metal ore from four countries around the world. CRI analysis shows that the U.S. is China's main source of rare earth metal ore imports. In 2021, China imported 75,500 tons of rare earth metal ore from the U.S., accounting for 99.80% of total rare earth metal ore imports in that year, with an import value of US$311 million, accounting for 99.89% of the total import value.
China is the world's leading importer of rare earth metal ores and the world's largest exporter of rare earth products. With the development of downstream industries in the rare earth industry and the rising demand for rare earth products, CRI expects that China's rare earth metal ore imports will gradually expand to meet the increasingly robust market and export demand for rare earth products.
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