Key facts
- China's yttrium oxide exports were running at about two-fifths of their 2023-2024 average, Bloomberg reported.
- Argus Media prices cited by Bloomberg put yttrium oxide at about $1.15 million a ton in Europe against $9,144 in China.
- Chinese customs data showed 4,000 kilograms of yttrium oxide reaching Japan in September 2026, against 51,000 kilograms a year earlier, per AFP.
- China extended the pause on its October 2025 rare earth export controls to January 10, Reuters reported.
- The IEA warned in July 2026 that full implementation of China's expanded controls could put about $6.5 trillion a year of downstream production outside China at risk.
- Lynas Rare Earths is not due to begin yttrium output at its Malaysian plant until 2028, Bloomberg reported.
China's yttrium oxide exports were running at about two-fifths of their 2023-2024 average, Bloomberg reported on November 10, 2026, with almost none going to Japan in 2026. Yttrium sits under a separate set of licensing rules Beijing imposed in April 2025 on seven medium and heavy rare earths, rules that the November 2025 pause on China's October 2025 export controls did not cover.
Argus Media prices cited in the Bloomberg report put yttrium oxide at about $1.15 million a ton in Europe against $9,144 in China, a 125-fold gap that the report said barely existed before the curbs. Chinese customs data cited by AFP showed 4,000 kilograms of yttrium oxide arriving in Japan in September 2026, against 51,000 kilograms a year earlier. The Financial Times reported on October 20, 2026 that Tokyo is months from running out and has asked Washington to lean on Beijing. A Japanese industry ministry official told AFP that global yttrium exports have stalled, causing a supply-demand crunch.
China extended the pause on its October 2025 rare earth export controls to January 10, Reuters reported on November 9, 2026. The law firm Pillsbury listed the April 2025 rules among the measures still in force when the pause began in November 2025. Yttrium also protects turbine blades in gas-fired power plants and jet engines, per Bloomberg. The IEA warned in July 2026 that full implementation of China's expanded controls could put about $6.5 trillion a year of downstream production outside China at risk.
Trump is expected to meet Xi on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen, set for November 18-19, 2026. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer used a recent video call with Vice Premier He Lifeng to ask for concrete actions, and a former senior US official told The National that some inside the administration believe China has overpromised and underdelivered.
Supply outside China is slow to arrive. Lynas Rare Earths is not due to begin yttrium output at its Malaysian plant until 2028, Bloomberg reported, and USA Rare Earth said it delivered its first yttrium oxide samples from a demonstration plant in Colorado to an unnamed customer for testing, Metal Tech News reported. Chi Hin Ling, head of metals pricing for Asia at Argus, told Bloomberg that nobody has a clear view of how much is sitting in warehouses because global stockpiles of critical minerals are not transparent.