Hightlights
- Vietnam has large reserves of rare earth elements but lacks comprehensive exploitation and processing.
- A significant bilateral agreement between Vietnam and China aims to enhance cooperation in the rare earths sector.
- Environmental and technological standards are emphasized for future rare earth projects.
Vietnam has large reserves of rare earth elements at about 20.7 million tons, but exploitation and processing have yet to be comprehensively researched. Maybe that will start to change based on a significant meeting in August of this year.
In August, a Chinese-Vietnamese deal was memorialized in Hanoi, the southeast Asian nation’s capital city. The collaboration involves state-owned China Rare Earth Group (opens in a new tab) (CREG) and players from Vietnam, including Nguyen Hoang Anh, chairman of the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC) (opens in a new tab). CMSC is a ministry-level agency in Vietnam that oversees the ownership of 19 major state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in that nation. Established in 2018, the CMSC was established by the Government of Vietnam to improve ownership and corporate governance frameworks for SOEs.
CREG chairman Ao Hong met with Anh in Hanoi, which represents the state capital at 19 major state-owned and state-controlled companies in Vietnam. The group discussed with other relevant authorities’ details of boosting cooperation between CREG and Vietnam’s national mining group Vinacomin (opens in a new tab).
CMSC chairman Nguyen Hoang Anh (seventh left), Vinacomin general director Dang Thanh Hai (sixth left) and CREG chairman Ao Hong (sixth right) meet in Hanoi, August 27, 2024.
Per the Prime Minister’s decision issued in July 2023 on rare earth exploitation and production for the 2021-2030 period, businesses will be licensed to exploit rare earth only if they can make final products with a 95% plus ratio of total rare earth oxide (TREO), using modern technologies and ensuring sustainable protection of the environment, Anh noted as reported by The Investor Vietnam.
CREG chairman Ao Hong said cooperation between mining businesses of Vietnam and China was part of efforts to deploy a March 2023 agreement between the CMSC and its Chinese counterpart State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) (opens in a new tab).
According to the CREG leader, they are poised to run the whole rare earth supply chain, from exploration, exploitation, deep-processing, utilization of renewable resources, research & development of new materials, and import-export activities.
Vinacomin general director Dang Thanh Hai said the corporation has been discussing joint activities with CREG and the cooperation can be furthered with CMSC’s approval. Interestingly Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong said last June 2023 Vietnam will not export raw rare earth (opens in a new tab) elements as this was a very complicated market mainly controlled by big countries.
China Rare Earth Holdings Limited (“CRE”) (formerly known as Yixing Xinwei Holdings Limited) is one of the leading and well-respected rare earth and refractory products manufacturers in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). The Group has been listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited since 15 October 1999. It is the first Chinese private enterprise which engages in the manufacture of rare earth and refractory products listing outside the Chinese mainland.
The company began its business in 1987 in the city of Yixing, Jiangsu Province, the PRC. Commencing operations as a rare earth separating factory, it has grown rapidly to become a recognized rare earth and refractory products manufacturer.
The Group successfully obtained ISO9002 quality certification in January 1999. Its annual production capacity reaches 6,500 tons (REO) rare earth products and 100,000 tons refractory products. Fluorescent materials, polishing agents, and high temperature ceramics are other major product lines of the Group.
The Group operates a rare earth separating factory and a refractory production factory. The rare earth separating factory comprises a smelting rare earth products workshop, several rare earth extraction lines, and many cutting-edge equipment while the refractory production factory embraces a refractory products workshop with several high-temperature tunnel kilns, light tonnage brick pressers, and pre-molded production lines.
The Group believes that the high-quality production facilities could produce the best rare earth and refractory products.
The industrial applications for rare earth products include high-tech electronic devices, computers, electronic motors, LCDs, DVDs, magnetic materials, magnetic memory chips, fiber optics, superconductors, mobile phone batteries, precision optics and many energy-saving environmental protection products. Refractory products are used extensively in heat-treatment facilities for petrochemical, steel metallurgy, non-ferrous metallurgy, glass, construction materials, chemical fertilizer, and ceramics industries.
Rare earth products of the Group are mainly exported to the United States of America, Japan, Europe, and Korea, and its refractory products are mainly for domestic sales and export to Japan. Its client list includes names of international prominence, such as General Electric, Nippon Electric Glass, Siemens, Shin-et Chemical, and Krosaki Harima, to name but a few.
The Group has a research and development centre that focuses on improving existing products and developing new products. Building and maintaining relationships with clients and exploring new businesses are the responsibility of its talented sales and marketing department. Concerning the environmental protection as well as the market needs, the Group will continue to develop environmentally friendly and high value-added products.
Daniel
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