China Rare Earth Group Reviews Yunnan Operations as Myanmar Supply Corridor Draws Attention

Highlights

• CREG General Manager Li Zhihui inspected Baoshan Rare Earth and Longchuan Rare Earth in Yunnan Province, focusing on resource supply and operational efficiency.
• Myanmar ranks No. 1 for heavy rare earth assets in REEx rankings, making Yunnan's border position strategically significant for dysprosium, terbium, and yttrium supply.
• Over 500 often illicit mines operate in Myanmar amid civil war, with the Kachin Independent Army controlling many rare earth mining sites in Kachin State.
• Kunming serves as a key logistics gateway through which Myanmar-origin rare earth material enters China's broader trading, separation, and refining network.
• Western competitors must build full alternative corridors from resource to magnet, not just finance new mines, to challenge China's integrated supply chain advantage.