U.S. importers skirt China’s mineral ban by rerouting antimony through Thailand and Mexico

Shipments of antimony to the United States have jumped to more than 3,800 tonnes in five months via Thailand and Mexico, customs data show, as buyers find back-door routes around Beijing’s export ban on critical minerals bound for the U.S.

Unusually large cargoes of antimony oxides began arriving in American ports in December, days after China barred direct exports of the battery- and chip-making metal to the U.S.

Reuters analysis of official customs figures shows 3,834 tonnes entered from Thailand and Mexico between December and April—exceeding almost the previous three years combined.

Trade records reviewed by Reuters link most of the Thai volumes to Unipet Industries, a subsidiary of Chinese producer Youngsun Chemicals. Unipet shipped about 3,366 tonnes of antimony products to the U.S. in that period, roughly 27 times the year-earlier level. The declared buyer was Texas-based Youngsun & Essen, which had previously sourced material direct from China. None of the companies responded to requests for comment.

Neither Thailand nor Mexico mines meaningful quantities of antimony and each has only a single smelter, according to consultancy RFC Ambrian. Their sudden prominence—both leapt into the top three destinations for Chinese antimony exports this year—points to trans-shipment, said industry analysts.

“The pattern is consistent with Chinese suppliers relabelling goods en route to avoid licensing rules,” said Ram Ben Tzion of shipment-vetting platform Publican.

China’s commerce ministry has acknowledged that “overseas entities” are colluding with domestic actors to dodge the controls, vowing tougher penalties that can include prison terms of more than five years for serious smuggling offences. The ministry did not reply to Reuters questions.

U.S. law does not prohibit American companies from buying the minerals if they come indirectly from China.

Executives at two U.S. firms told Reuters they continue to receive gallium supplied through third countries, with shipments sometimes relabelled as iron, zinc or even art supplies to escape scrutiny.

Beijing’s challenge now is to enforce its export-control regime without undermining its own refiners, who risk losing market share if global buyers embed alternative channels according to experts. “Policy is the easy part; policing is much harder,” Ben Tzion said.

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