Rare earth metal ore imports plummet by nearly 90%! Thorium ore sand becomes the new main raw material for light rare earths

Today, the General Administration of Customs released the import and export data for January-February 2026. According to the latest data, in January-February 2026, China’s import volume of rare earth metal ores was approximately 1,128.7 tons, showing a year-on-year reduction of about 89%.

In previous years, this portion of imports mainly came from the United States, but since August of last year, with the official zero imports from the U.S., China’s import volume of rare earth metal ores has begun to significantly decrease. Currently, the import volume of these rare earth ores mainly comes from Nigeria.

In January-February 2025, China’s import volume of thorium ore sand and its concentrates was 14,026.6 tons, showing a slight year-on-year reduction of 12%. In February, the import volume was 4,202.7 tons, which was a month-on-month reduction of 57%, but a year-on-year increase of 60%.

Currently, the main supplying countries for thorium ore sand and its concentrates include African countries such as Nigeria and Madagascar. In February, due to the Chinese New Year holiday and the relatively few working days in that month, the import volume saw a slight month-on-month decline. However, from an overall trend perspective, with the significant decrease in the import volume of rare earth metal ores, the import demand for thorium ore sand, as an important supplement to light rare earth ores, is expected to maintain a growth trend. Therefore, it is anticipated that the import volume of thorium ore sand will show a significant upward trend for the entire year.

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Original statement: This article is produced by SMM Shanghai Nonferrous Network, author: Yang Jiawen. Please respect our copyright/intellectual property rights. Reprinting is not allowed without permission. For reprinting requests, please contact the editor for authorization in the backend for business cooperation. The information provided in this article is for reference only and does not constitute direct investment research advice. Any decisions made by clients are not related to Shanghai Nonferrous Network.

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