China boosts yttrium exports to US ahead of Xi's visit, keeps Japan cutoff in place

China sharply increased exports of yttrium — a rare earth element critical to the aerospace sector — to the United States last month, data show.

Citing figures from China's General Administration of Customs, Reuters reported Thursday that China shipped 29 metric tons of yttrium to the US in July.

That was the second-highest monthly volume of yttrium exports to the US since China introduced export controls on yttrium and some other rare earths last April.

Monthly shipment volumes swung sharply: exports jumped to 60 metric tons in March before falling to 10 metric tons in April, then stopped entirely for two consecutive months in May and June.

Yttrium is used in thermal-barrier coatings for advanced jet engines and spacecraft, as well as in semiconductor protective coatings and insulators. An essential raw material for the aerospace, energy and semiconductor industries, the US relies heavily on China for its supply.

Chinese exports of rare earth permanent magnets to the US also reached 647 metric tons over the same period — the second-highest monthly figure since the controls took effect, trailing only October last year, when 656 metric tons were shipped.

Reuters noted the surge came ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's planned visit to the US in late September, describing China's rare earth exports as a powerful diplomatic tool.

In contrast, China's controls on strategic material exports to Japan remain firmly in place.

China has cut off dysprosium exports to Japan for nine consecutive months through last month, and terbium shipments have been halted for eight months. Both dysprosium and terbium are rare earths used in small quantities to enhance the performance of high-grade permanent magnets.

Japan was once among the largest importers of Chinese rare earths and strategic minerals, but supplies of yttrium, terbium, gallium and dysprosium have been in effect severed since Sino-Japanese tensions flared following remarks on Taiwan by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in November last year.