Vietnam Replaces India as China's Fifth Largest Buyer of Rare Earth Metals

According to a report by Sputnik, Vietnam replaced India in July as China's fifth largest buyer of rare earth metals, while the United States dropped two positions in the rankings due to a decline in imports.

Japan retained its top position, as it did a month earlier, with purchases nearly doubling to $13.8 million in July. The Netherlands secured the second spot with even more significant growth, as imports surged 1.6 times month-on-month to $7.073 million. The European country had ranked third just a month earlier.

South Korea climbed to third place in July's rankings of the largest buyers of Chinese rare earth metals, rising one position. The neighboring country purchased rare earth metals worth $6.5 million from China, nearly three times the amount recorded in June.

The United States fell from second place a month earlier to fourth, with purchases declining by 20% to $2.6 million. Vietnam replaced India to claim fifth place, thanks to a more than threefold increase in imports, which reached $1.3 million. Just a month ago, Vietnam ranked only tenth.

India, with purchases declining by over 33% to $742,300 within a month, dropped out of the top five buyers of Chinese rare earth metals and fell to eighth place.

Russia’s ranking remained unchanged from the previous month, holding the sixth position despite a slight decrease in import value ($897,000 as of June, down 6.6%).