Following a brief recovery in May, China’s exports of the technology metals gallium and germanium fell sharply again in June, according to the latest data from the Chinese customs authorities.
While 6,200 kilograms of gallium were exported in the previous month, shipments dropped to just 200 kilograms in June. This represents a decline of around 97%. Exports were also significantly lower than in the same period last year, when China shipped 4,260 kilograms of gallium.
Of the 200 kilograms exported, 150 kilograms went to South Korea and the remainder to Vietnam. This marks a shift in destinations, as Germany has been one of the main buyers so far this year. Japan also received gallium in May—the only such shipment since China tightened its export controls on the country in January.
Germanium exports also fell sharply in June. After reaching 1,134 kilograms in May, shipments declined to just 620 kilograms, a drop of around 45%. However, the volume was significantly higher than in the same month last year, when China exported only 96 kilograms.
Almost all of the 620 kilograms went to Russia, which had already ranked among the main export destinations in previous months. Armenia received just three kilograms.
The technology metals gallium and germanium are essential for numerous civilian and military applications, including semiconductor production. China, the world’s leading producer, imposed strict controls on exports of the two raw materials and large parts of their value chains in summer 2023. Since then, trade flows have become even more volatile and are partly influenced by China’s current political relations with the respective destination countries.
Photo: Juan Roballo via Canva
