Technology

How a war-torn Myanmar plays a critical role in China’s rare earth dominance

Published

1 month ago

June 24, 2025

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Illustration of the national flag of the People’s Republic of China and a mining site.

Craig Hastings | Moment | Getty Images

Beijing has been stepping up controls on rare earth exports, triggering global shortages and exposing industries’ dependence on Chinese supply chains.

However, over recent years, China itself has become reliant on rare earth supplies from an unexpected source: the relatively small and war-torn economy of Myanmar.

While China is the world’s top producer of rare earths, it still imports raw materials containing the coveted metals from abroad.

Myanmar accounted for about 57% of China’s total rare earth imports last year, Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CNBC.

According to Chinese Customs data, Myanmar’s rare earth exports to China significantly picked up in 2018 and reached a peak of nearly 42,000 metric tons by 2023.

Baskaran added that the imports from Myanmar are also particularly high in heavy rare earth element contents, which are generally less abundant in the earth’s crust, elevating their value and scarcity.

“Myanmar’s production has significantly strengthened China’s dominant position, effectively giving Beijing a de facto monopoly over the global heavy rare earths supply chain — and much of the leverage it wields today.”

The country has become a key source of two highly sought-after heavy rare earths, dysprosium and terbium, that play crucial roles in high-tech manufacturing, including in defense and military, aerospace and renewables sector.

“This dynamic has given rise to a supply chain in which extraction is concentrated in Myanmar, while downstream processing and value addition are predominantly carried out in China,” said Baskaran.

Why Myanmar?

Myanmar is home to deposits that tend to have higher heavy rare earth content, David Merriman, research director at Project Blue, told CNBC.

These “ionic adsorption clay” or IAC deposits are exploited through leaching methods that apply chemical reagents to the clay — and that comes with high environmental costs.

According to Merriman, the vast majority of the world’s IAC operations were in Southern China in the early to mid-2010s. But, as Beijing began implementing new environmental controls and standards in the rare earths industry, a lot of these projects began to close down.

“Myanmar, particularly the North of the country, was seen as a key region which had similar geology to many of the IAC deposit areas within China,” Merriman said.

“You started to see quite a rapid build out of new IAC type mines within Myanmar, essentially replacing the domestic Chinese production. There was a lot of Chinese business involvement in the development of these new IAC projects.”

The rare earths extracted by these IAC miners in Myanmar are then shipped to China mostly in the form of “rare earth oxides” for further processing and refining, Yue Wang, a senior consultant of rare earths at Wood Mackenzie, told CNBC.

In 2024, a report from Global Witness, a nonprofit focused on environmental and human rights abuses, said that China had effectively outsourced much of its rare earth extraction to Myanmar “at a terrible cost to the environment and local communities.”

China’s rare earth risks

China’s reliance on Myanmar for rare earths has also opened it up to supply chain risks, experts said.

According to Global Witness’s research, most of the heavy rare earths from Myanmar originate from the Northern Kachin State, which borders China. However, following Myanmar’s violent military coup in 2021, the military junta has struggled to maintain control of the territory amid opposition from the public and armed groups.

“Myanmar is a risky jurisdiction to rely on, given the ongoing Civil War. In 2024, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a group of armed rebels, seized sites responsible for half the world’s heavy rare earths production,” said CSIS’ Baskaran.

Since the seizure, there have been reports of supply disruptions causing spikes in the prices of some heavy rare earths. According a Reuters report, the KIA was seeking to use the resources as leverage against Beijing.

Chinese customs data shows, imports of rare earth oxides from Myanmar fell by over a third in the first five months of the year compared to the same period last year.

“If Myanmar were to cease all exports of rare earth feed stocks to China, China would struggle to meet its demand for heavy rare earths in the short term,” said Project Blue’s Merriman.

Not surprisingly, Beijing has been looking to diversify its sources of heavy rare earths.

According to Merriman, there are IAC deposits in nearby countries, including Malaysia and Laos, where some projects have been set up with Chinese involvement.

Still, he notes that environmental standards are expected to be higher in those countries, which will present challenges for rare earth miners.

China’s decision to cut back on its own extraction of heavy rare earth elements may serve as a warning to other countries about the costs of developing such projects. A report by Chinese media group Caixin in 2022 documented how former IAC operation sites in Southern China had left behind toxic water and contaminated soil, hurting local farmers’ livelihoods.

Technology

Super Micro shares plunge 15% on weak results, disappointing guidance

Published

2 hours ago

August 5, 2025

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Super Micro shares plunge 15% on weak results, disappointing guidance

Charles Liang, CEO of Super Micro, speaks at the Computex conference in Taipei, Taiwan, on June 1, 2023.

Walid Berrazeg | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Super Micro Computer shares slid 15% in extended trading on Tuesday after the server maker reported disappointing fiscal fourth-quarter results and issued weak quarterly earnings guidance.

Here’s how the company did in comparison with LSEG consensus:

Earnings per share: 41 cents adjusted vs. 44 cents expected
Revenue: $5.76 billion vs. $5.89 billion expected

Super Micro’s revenue increased 7.5% during the quarter, which ended on June 30, according to a statement.

For the current quarter, Super Micro called for 40 cents to 52 cents in adjusted earnings per share on $6 billion to $7 billion in revenue for the fiscal first quarter. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for 59 cents per share and $6.6 billion in revenue.

For the 2026 fiscal year, Super Micro sees at least $33 billion in revenue, above the LSEG consensus of $29.94 billion.

Super Micro saw surging demand starting in 2023 for its data center servers packed with Nvidia for handling artificial intelligence models and workloads. Growth has since slowed.

The company avoided being delisted from the Nasdaq after falling behind on quarterly financial filings and seeing the departure of its auditor.

As of Tuesday’s close, Super Micro shares were up around 88% so far in 2025, while the S&P 500 index has gained 7%.

Executives will discuss the results on a conference call starting at 5 p.m. ET.

WATCH: We have a runaway bull market right now, says Jim Cramer

Technology

Hinge Health stock pops 6% after first quarterly report since IPO

Published

2 hours ago

August 5, 2025

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Hinge Health stock pops 6% after first quarterly report since IPO

Hinge Health co-founders, Gabriel Mecklenburg and Daniel Perez celebrate its initial public offering at the New York Stock Exchange on May 22, 2025.

NYSE

Shares of Hinge Health popped 6% in extended trading on Tuesday after the digital physical therapy company reported quarterly results for the first time since its debut on the New York Stock Exchange in May.

Here’s how the company did based on average analysts’ estimates compiled by LSEG:

Loss: Loss per share of $13.10. That may not compare with the 9 cents per share earnings expected
Revenue: $139 million vs. $125 million expected

Revenue at Hinge increased 55% in the second quarter from $89.8 million during the same period last year, according to a release.

Hinge reported a net loss of $575.65 million, or $13.10 per share, compared to a loss of $12.93 million, a loss of 96 cents per share, during the same period a year earlier. The company said its GAAP loss from operations was $580.7 million, which included $591.0 million from stock-based compensation expenses.

“We’re still introducing ourselves to the world,” Hinge CEO Daniel Perez told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday. “The most important thing I’d hope for people to take away is the long-term potential of using software and connected hardware to automate care delivery itself.”

AMD reports weaker-than-expected earnings even as revenue tops estimates

Published

2 hours ago

August 5, 2025

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AMD reports weaker-than-expected earnings even as revenue tops estimates

Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, testifiy during the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing titled “Winning the AI Race: Strengthening U.S. Capabilities in Computing and Innovation,” in Hart building on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

Advanced Micro Devices reported quarter earnings on Tuesday that missed estimates. The stock slid about 4% in extended trading.

Here’s how the chipmaker did versus LSEG expectations for the quarter ended June:

Earnings per share: 48 cents adjusted versus 49 cents expected
Revenue: $7.69 billion versus $7.42 billion expected

For the current quarter, AMD expects sales of $8.7 billion, plus or minus $300 million, versus expectations of earnings of $8.3 billion.

AMD reported net income during its fiscal second quarter of $872 million, or 54 cents per share, increasing from $265 million, or 16 cents per share in the year-ago period. Nvidia’s overall sales rose 32% in the period from $5.84 billion a year earlier.

AMD is the second-biggest maker of graphics processing units (GPUs) for artificial intelligence behind Nvidia, which has the vast majority of the market. But big AI customers such as Meta and OpenAI are increasingly looking to AMD to provide an alternative to Nvidia’s pricey chips, especially for inference, or when AI models are deployed to the public.

During the quarter, AMD announced new AI chips called the MI400 that are expected to hit the market next year. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman committed to using AMD’s newest GPUs.

AMD is also grappling with chip export controls which have been placed on some of its AI chips because the U.S. government worries that powerful GPUs could be used by adversaries to surpass American capabilities or be used for military purposes.

The MI308 was previously barred for export to China in April, which the company said cost it $800 million in the June quarter. However, the company said in July that it expected shipments to resume after the Trump administration signaled that it would approve waivers. AMD said its outlook doesn’t include any revenue from its China-focused AI chip called the MI308 and its license applications are currently being reviewed by the Department of Commerce.

AMD’s adjusted gross margin during the quarter was 43%. The company said it would have been 54% if not for export control costs.

AMD’s main business, aside from GPUs, is making central processors, called CPUs, which compete with Intel to power more traditional servers.

Both are reported in the company’s data center segment, which had $3.2 billion in revenue, up 14% on an annual basis.

The other major segment for AMD is called Client and Gaming, which includes the company’s CPUs for laptops and desktops, and its GPUs for 3D gaming. That was up 69% on an annual basis to $3.6 billion. Client revenue by itself rose 57% to $2.5 billion, in line with the StreetAccount expectations of $2.56 billion, partially driven by strong demand for the company’s latest desktop CPUs, which it calls AMD Ryzen Zen 5.

Gaming revenue by itself was up 73% year-over-year to $1.1 billion, versus StreetAccount estimate of $784 million, with its growth due to increased demand for custom chips for game consoles and gaming GPUs, AMD said.