China's export administration is restricting shipments of metals critical to defence and chip manufacturing. Their exports are at historically low levels despite high global prices.
China is the world's largest producer of antimony, germanium, and gallium. Since 2023, Beijing has been gradually adding more metals to its export control list. Their exports to the United States have been banned since December last year.
According to the latest customs data, the controls have reduced exports, and some buyers, especially in Europe, have been cut out of the supply chain altogether. In the first quarter of this year, for example, shipments of antimony and germanium products abroad fell by 57% and 39%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.
In March, gallium exports reached their lowest level since October 2023. Quarterly shipments have increased compared to last year, but the current trend is still significantly below 2022, the last full year before the restrictions.
After a five-month hiatus, small shipments of antimony were sent to Belgium and Germany in March, but exports were well below historical levels, and former major buyers such as the Netherlands have not received shipments since September. Antimony exports to the US stopped last September, while germanium and gallium stopped in 2023.
Seven more rare earth metals were added to the control list this month. Exporters are preparing to wait months for special licenses, and even longer for sales to the US.
The reduction in exports from China forces overseas consumers to look for other sources of raw material supply, which has already led to higher prices and is keeping prices high in China itself. Spot prices for antimony in China, for example, have jumped by almost two-thirds this year to a record high of 230,000 yuan ($31,500) per ton.
Hélène Tarin, Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
