“Vietnam will not export raw rare earth elements,” Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha told Vietnam’s National Assembly on Tuesday. Instead it will encourage the development of the local processing industry which Ha sees as an opportunity to drive foreign investment in the sector, according to The Investor.
Vietnam has the second biggest rare earth reserves in the world after China, according to the US Geological Survey’s Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024. The local industry, however, is well underdeveloped, extracting just 1,200 tons in 2022 according to the report. It also took a backstep last year when the heads of several rare earth firms were arrested. This led to estimated extraction for 2023 falling from 1,200 tons to 600 tons.
That said, with the huge demand for rare earth minerals and the ongoing geopolitical tensions between the world’s biggest rare earths producer, China, and the world’s biggest rare earths consumers the US, Vietnam has the attention of rare earth miners and processors the world over. A clear direction forward, however, is still somewhat elusive but there has been a lot of movement in the industry over the last twelve months.
See also: Vietnam’s Rare Earth Partnership Contenders: Unpacked