China Rare Earth Group Channels Asian Heavy Rare Earth Element Feedstock into a 35+-Entity Processing Network

Highlights

• CREG's May 2024 roster lists 35 operating smelting and separation enterprises spanning light and heavy rare earth feedstocks across nine Chinese provinces.
• China imported 41,700 tonnes of Myanmar heavy rare earth oxides in 2023—more than twice China's domestic mining quota—with CREG-linked facilities documented as consumers.
• Laos provides the clearest corporate ownership bridge via a CREG-linked joint venture in Houaphanh; Myanmar mine ownership remains largely opaque despite documented purchasing.
• Malaysia's MCRE Resources has exported rare earth carbonate into the CREG system since February 2023, using technology supplied by a Chinalco subsidiary.
• Approximately 98% of heavy rare earth elements are separated and processed into oxides in China, making midstream concentration—not mine location—the true strategic chokepoint.