Vietnam rare earth production halved to 600 tons: US Geological Survey

Vietnam’s 2023 rare earth production, estimated at 600 tons, was down 50% from 2022, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024 report.

The revised 2022 figure of 1,200 tons was also a steep decline from an estimation of 4,300 tons, the report said.

In 2023, the world’s biggest rare earth producers were China with 240,000 tons, the U.S. with 43,000 tons, Burma with 38,000 tons, and Australia with 18,000 tons.

Meanwhile, Vietnam remains the second biggest known rare earth source in the world with 22 million tons, behind China with 44 million tons. Other major sources are Brazil with 21 million tons, Russia with 10 million tons, India with 6.9 million tons, and Australia with 5.7 million tons.

Vietnamese businesses have signed many rare earth export details in the last three years.

In January 2024, Hung Thinh Titanium JSC signed an offtake agreement to supply 500 tons of rare earth oxides every year from 2025 onwards to South Korean cable firm LS Eco Energy. It will supply 200 tons this year.

In July 2023, Vietnam Rare Earth JSC (VTRE) and two Australian firms - Australian Strategic Materials Ltd. (ASM) and Blackstone Minerals Ltd. - signed an MoU on rare earth mining and production. ASM said the agreement would facilitate cooperation in identifying, assessing and securing rare earth mining opportunities in Vietnam as feed stock for VTRE’s refinery as also ensure long-term offtake of rare earth oxides.

In December 2022, VTRE signed a contract to annually export 1,000-2,000 tons of rare earth to South Korea. Under the deal, the Vietnamese firm will supply rare earth oxides worth $50 million in five years from 2023 to Korean Strategic Materials Metals (KSMM), a subsidiary of Australian Strategic Materials Limited (ASM).

In October 2023, VTRE chairman Luu Anh Tuan was among six people arrested for alleged violations of mining and accounting regulations, causing serious consequences.