WASHINGTON, 21 August. - (ANA) - The US International Development Finance Corporation is stepping in to fund rare earths production in Africa as private investors remain reluctant to finance the sector, a key battleground in Washington’s competition with China. 

 

The US has been scrambling to diversify its sources of rare earth imports— vital for tech and defense — the majority of which are produced in China. 

 

Beijing threatened to impose an export ban last year, sending a shudder across US industry.

 

While Africa holds some of the largest deposits, many are in countries that lack adequate infrastructure, compounding investors’ worries on top of fears that Chinese intervention could subvert ​project economics, Reuters reported. “We’re trying to help projects reach a more de-risked stage,” a DFC official said.

 

 

 

 

The global rare earths industry has transformed over the last three decades.

 

In the 1990s, the U.S. was still a major producer, anchored by the Mountain Pass mine in California. However, after a wastewater-related legal action in 1997 involving the mine, U.S. output collapsed, creating space for China to scale rapidly.

 

This visualization tracks those shifts in mine production from 1994 to 2024. The data comes from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

 

 

 

 

China increased REO output from around 31,000 metric tons in 1994 to 270,000 metric tons in 2024. During the period, Chinese suppliers undercut American producers thanks to state support, lower environmental standards, and cheaper labor.

 

Currently, China not only dominates the extraction of rare earths, but it also produces around 90% of the world’s refined supply and hosts the largest capacity for separation and purification.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/21 August 2026 - - -