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A bulldozer scoop floor containing various rare land to load on a ship in a port of Lianyungang, the province of Jiangsu of East China on September 5, 2010, for export to Japan.
Str | AFP | Getty images
Japan has quietly opened a path for the resilience of the supply chain.
Long before China in early April was imposed on an export ban on several rare elements and magnets widely used in the automotive,, robotics And defense sectors, Japan has become a canary in the coal mine to Beijing mineral domination.
The country of East Asia was plunged into panic mode in 2010 when China implemented an export ban on rare earths which specifically targeted Tokyo after a heated territorial conflict.
The embargo lasted only for about two months, but it was enough to encourage the fourth world economy to change its approach to the security of the supply chain.
In addition to the storage, recycling and promotion of alternative technologies, Japan has since invested Focusing in non -Chinese projects of the rare land – notably Australian Lynas, the largest producer of rare land in the world outside of China.
Consequently, Japan’s overall dependence on Chinese rare land fell to less than 60% more than 90% at the time of the incident, according to data provided by Argus Media.
Jonathan Rowntree – CEO of Niron Magnetics, who produces permanent magnets without rare earths – said that the company based in the United States was born a decade ago following the first rare earth crisis in the world which “had a particularly significant impact on Japan, although less on the rest of the world”.
“Because of this, Japan is actually much more prepared this time than most other countries,” Rowntree told CNBC by e-mail.
“They stored more, Invested in LynasAnd ensured the offer of rare Western Earth to respond to part of this request thanks to a combination of Lynas, Australian mines and their Malaysian treatment installation, “he added.
Japan The plans would have plans To further reduce his dependence on Chinese imports of rare land at less than 50% this year. CNBC contacted the Japanese government to comment.
A worker is preparing to equalize the research ship on the marine resources of Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp., Hakurei, in a toyo pier in Japan, Wednesday March 21, 2012.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty images
China is the undisputed leader of the critical mineral supply chain, production Almost 70% of the global supply of rare land from mines and treatment Almost 90%, which means that these materials in other countries are important and refine them.
Western officials have repeatedly reported The domination of the Beijing supply chain as a strategic challenge, in particular since the request for critical minerals should grow exponentiallylike the The clean energy transition accelerates the pace.
The transformation of the Japan supply chain is seen As a model for Western nations – and a brutal reminder of the difficulty of escaping the critical mineral orbit of China.
Further away?
Japan has been successful thanks to Lynas and its international supply chains by investing not only in the exploitation of rare earths, but also in the installations necessary to treat and refine the materials in goods that can be used, according to Nils Backeberg, founder and director of the Blue Project Advisory Project.
However, the country has a long way to go to reduce its dependence on China in certain key areas, Backeberg told CNBC. This is particularly true for elements of rare heavy earths, which are generally less abundant in the earth’s crust, raising their value.
The Lynas Rare Earths Ltd. Transformation factory in Kalgoorlie, Australia, Tuesday August 6, 2024. Lynas Rare Earths Explore and Mines for Rare Terres minerals such as cerium and neodymium.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty images
“Few rare earths come out of Lynas, and most of those who are really sent to China for additional refinement,” said Backeberg, adding that the last export ban on China highlights the importance of Beijing in rare earths.
But Lynas continued to progress in this area. During the last month approximately, the company announced Driven in two rare land, claiming to have produced them outside China for the first time.
‘A real problem’
The latest export borders of the rare earths of China were implemented as part of a response to the American president Donald TrumpThe increase in the price of Beijing products.
“When the pricing war started and the prices were put on China, the first thing that China has done was to say” we will stop exporting rare earths “. A few weeks later, we could not make a car in America or Europe, it is therefore a real problem,” Amaroq, Eldur Olafsson, CEO of the mining company focused on Greenland, CNBC “Europe Early Edition“THURSDAY.
“No country in the Western world wants only a country stuck on the market,” said Olafsson.
Western automotive industry groups have been hit particularly By export limits, with much increasingly concerned about production failures.
Ivan Espinosa, chief executive officer of Nissan Motor Co., speaks during an interview at the headquarters of the company in Yokohama, Japan, Thursday, May 15, 2025.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty images
The disturbance has also extended to Japanese car manufacturers. Suzuki engine Production in suspension of its Swift because popular model earlier this month, with local media Assigning the stage to the export restrictions of the rare earths of China. A spokesperson for Suzuki Motor did not respond to a request for CNBC comments.
Meanwhile, giant of the Japanese car Nissan said he explored means to minimize the impact of Chinese export controls by working with the Japanese government and the Automobile Japan Manufacturers Association.
“We must continue to find alternatives for the future, keeping flexibility and keeping our options open,” Ivan Espinosa, CEO of Nissan, said in CNBC earlier this month.
A push for alternatives
In the future, Rowntree of Niron Magnetics said that a government and industrial approach that would be delighted would be necessary to combat the mineral domination of China, the acceleration of permits for national mines to invest in new alternatives to provide sufficient loving supplies.
“Everyone has seen that this bottleneck is a problem. We have all been able to happen for a long time, but now it has happened,” said Rowntree.
“I think that many customers share my point of view – that it is unlikely that this problem will disappear and that we must have alternatives in the West to remedy it.”
Interior production in Europe in rare earths is limited. Just like the United Statesthe region relies strongly on imports, especially from China, although plans are underway to develop interior resources and treatment capacities.
For example, Belgian chemical group Solvaywhich operates the largest rare earth processing plant outside of China in La Rochelle, in France, aims to provide 30% of the demand for rare earths from Europe for permanent magnets by 2030.
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Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical mineral security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington -based reflection group, said the American and European Union will have to work together to create a non -Chinese rare land market.
“The West creates an emerging rare land industry outside of China at a time when prices are low and companies are struggling with profitability,” Baskaran told CNBC by e-mail.
Tax credits and subsidies will be “essential” to ensure that non -Chinese projects can build and evolve, said Baskaran, noting that rare earths enter almost all modern industries.
