EL7 Research · Industry Guide
12 November 2026 · Critical Minerals
A guide to rare earths, from mine to magnet and turbine coating, examining why yttrium is scarce and China's restrictions remain in force, why sector stocks are falling nonetheless, and what the EL7 Score says about each stock.
Rare earth elements (Rare Earths) are seventeen chemically similar metallic elements. They are not scarce in the Earth's crust, but concentrations in mineable deposits are low, and separating them is difficult and costly. Small quantities go into high-value products: magnets for electric vehicle motors, wind turbines and drones; coatings that protect aircraft engines and gas power plant turbines from heat; and chipmaking tools. China accounted for around 69% of global mine production in 2025. In 2024, it accounted for around 91% of refined magnet elements and 94% of sintered magnets, made by heating compressed powder until its particles bond.
Yttrium is the element now facing tightening supplies. On 9 November, China extended until 10 January 2027 the suspension of export restrictions announced in October 2025, as we noted in our research on the trade truce extension. But yttrium was never covered by those restrictions. It is one of seven elements requiring an export licence since April 2025, a restriction that has never been suspended. Argus estimates the price of yttrium oxide in Europe at around 1,150 dollars per kilogram, against around 9 dollars in China, or roughly 125 times as much.
This gap looks large, but it does not mean demand will decline soon. Yttrium oxide accounts for just 7% of the weight of the coating protecting a turbine blade, and buyers have no equivalent substitute. Supply outside China is “very limited” over the next year or two, according to consultancy Project Blue, and Lynas does not expect to begin yttrium production in Malaysia before 2028.
Stocks, meanwhile, are moving in the opposite direction. MP Materials is 63.04% below its October 2025 peak, and USA Rare Earth is 79.52% lower. The EL7 Score places seven of eight sector-linked stocks in the bottom 11% of around 8,470 stocks. The sole exception is Shin-Etsu, a diversified chemicals company that makes magnets among other products, with a score of 84.2. The model, which knows nothing about yttrium, agrees with the research conclusion: the metal shortage is real, but specialist companies are still spending more on their projects than they earn from them.
Mining
60%
Ore extraction and concentration
Relatively open
Separation and refining
91%
Converting the mixture into separate oxides
Constrained
Metal and alloy
90%
More than 90% of oxide-to-metal and alloy conversion capacity
Nearly closed
Magnets
94%
Alloy pressing and sintering
Nearly closed
Separated yttrium
Most production
No commercial separation in the United States
Largely closed
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