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Stefan Bernstein explains how the EU/Greenland critical raw materials partnership benefits GreenRoc
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China June rare earth magnet exports to U.S. fall 3.9% from May

Sat, 27th Jul 2019 13:28

BEIJING, July 27 (Reuters) - China's exports of rare earthmagnets to the United States fell 3.9% in June from the previousmonth, customs data showed on Saturday, as concerns persist thatBeijing will curb supply of rare earth products as part of itstrade war with Washington.

The latest data came after U.S. President Donald Trump onMonday told the Pentagon to find better ways to procuresamarium-cobalt rare earth permanent magnets, used in specialtymotors, warning that the country's defence would suffer withoutadequate stockpiles.

China is the world's dominant producer of rare earthmagnets, which are widely used in medical devices and consumerelectronics as well as defence, although Trump in August 2018signed a policy bill banning their purchase from China formilitary use in the 2019 fiscal year.

China's exports to the United States of permanent rare earthmagnets, or rare earth material that will be turned intopermanent magnets, came in at 414,100 kg, or around 414 tonneslast month, the data from the General Administration of Customsshowed.

That was down 3.9% from 431 tonnes in May, which was thehighest monthly total since at least 2016, and up 1.45%year-on-year.

David Merriman, manager of battery and electric vehiclematerials at consultancy Roskill, said before the customsnumbers came out the U.S. Department of Defense's purchases ofrare earth permanent magnets are "relatively minor" whencompared to imports for electronic, automotive and otherapplications.

In terms of samarium-cobalt magnets, "the interesting trendhas been the spikes in (U.S.) imports from the Philippines andMalaysia, suggesting a move to greater imports fromJapanese-owned manufacturers," he added, noting that Japan'sShin-Etsu has samarium-cobalt production facilities inboth those Southeast Asian countries.(Reporting by Tom Daly and Shivani Singh; Editing by MarkPotter)

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