Sojitz plans to import yttrium from Malaysia as early as 2027

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Sojitz to import Malaysian yttrium

Highlights

Sojitz will begin importing yttrium from Malaysia as early as 2027 to reduce its reliance on Chinese sources, president Kosuke Uemura said.
Sojitz also aims to source other medium and heavy rare earth elements from Malaysia, with the Lynas Rare Earths plant expansion project making progress.
Malaysia now hosts the only non-Chinese rare earth production facility, bans exports of raw rare earths, and allows only processed products to be exported starting next year.

This article was translated from the original. Read the original version by our correspondent here.

Procurement plans and capacity expansion

As reported by The Edge Malaysia, citing Nikkei Asia, Sojitz will begin purchasing yttrium from Malaysia as early as 2027 as part of the Japanese trading company’s efforts to reduce its reliance on sources in China.

The report quoted Sojitz president Kosuke Uemura as saying that the company also aims to source other medium and heavy rare earth elements from Malaysia. He said supplies would not begin immediately, but plans were on track to start next year or later.

Uemura also said that the expansion of the processing plant in Malaysia, led by Australian partner Lynas Rare Earths, was making progress. Yttrium is used in LED displays, high-performance glass for camera lenses, and the radioactive isotope yttrium-90 for liver cancer treatment.

Implications for rare earth supply chains

In addition to yttrium, the medium to heavy rare earth materials produced by Lynas include samarium, used in high-performance permanent magnets for defense applications, and terbium, used in some electronic components and naval sonar systems.

Rare earths have become a focus of trade tensions after China, which has long dominated supplies of these critical materials, tightened controls on exports and processing technologies. China did not export gallium, dysprosium, terbium, or yttrium to Japan in June.

Lynas’s facility in Malaysia is now the only non-Chinese commercial producer of materials vital to modern technology. Malaysia, meanwhile, prohibits the export of raw rare earths and only allows value-added processed products to be shipped abroad.

In our earlier coverage of U.S. companies’ interest in Malaysia’s rare earth sector, we reported that more than a dozen firms were assessing investments and mining and processing projects to build an alternative supply chain outside China. The article also highlighted the role of an industry forum bringing together governments and investors, as well as how the Malaysia–U.S. critical minerals agreement is helping attract foreign capital and technology to the local rare earth ecosystem.

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