China continues to dominate the exotic world as diversification efforts gain momentum
Global rare-earth production is estimated to increase by 2.6% in 2025 over 2024 to 390,000 tonnes of rare-earth oxide (REO), supported by stable supply chains and continued exports from China. China maintains its top position in the world’s rare market, accounting for 69.2% of the world’s rare product in 2025. China’s dominance extends beyond mining, as the country controls nearly 90 percent of the world’s rare earths, tightening its grip on the entire value chain.
The US and Australia are the world’s second and third largest producers, accounting for 13.1% and 7.4% of global production in 2025, respectively.
The US has strengthened its position as the world’s second largest producer of exotics by 2025, with output reaching 51,000t. This was supported by federal initiatives such as the Defense Productivity Act (DPA), which helped consolidate funding and long-term plans to expand the Mountain Pass mine and build a domestic separation capability. However, despite rapid gains in mining, the US remains in the early stages of developing commercial-grade refining capacity, leaving it short of the end-to-end capacity needed for full supply chain independence.
During that time, Australia produced 29,000t and focused on downstream processing and magnet supply chains through government-backed precious minerals programs and partnerships with the US and Japan.
Myanmar contributed 22,000t, recovering from previous disruptions caused by armed conflicts and logistical issues. However, production remains volatile due to regulatory uncertainty, environmental scrutiny and occasional border controls, keeping Myanmar a vulnerable but important supplier.
Although Thailand is not a major player, it has an important role in the industry, especially in downstream processing (and relies heavily on imports from China). Although it has limited domestic reserves, it serves as a processing center for rare earth refining. Thailand has a developed downstream processing industry for REEs that includes the production of rare earth magnets and other high-value products. The country’s mining production has doubled from 2,100t in 2024 to 4,800t in 2025, supported by strengthened domestic mining due to the presence of deposits in the northeastern region (mainly Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) and Buriram region).
Rare earth production in Nigeria is estimated to decline significantly from 7,200t in 2023 to 1,500t in 2025, due to the lack of comprehensive geological research, and the technical challenges of extracting rare earth elements, with limited progress. The country plans to develop its rare earths sector through cooperation with other countries, the most recent of which is a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with France in December 2024 to secure supply chains for rare earths by using French technology.
Although emerging producers such as Nigeria and Thailand are adding increasing amounts, global supply will remain structurally dominated by China, with secondary contributions from the US, Australia and Myanmar.
In the coming years, the power of the rare earth market is expected to shift from mining to processing, refining and magnet manufacturing. While China is expected to maintain its leading position in the production of trailers and components, Western and ASEAN countries are beginning to build their local supply chains—a move that will keep the market strong and highly competitive for years to come.
“China continues to dominate mining world as diversification efforts grow” was originally developed and published by Mining Technology, an imprint owned by GlobalData.
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