Foxconn sees minimal impact from China’s rare earth curbs

Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, said China’s new rare earth export restrictions have had limited short-term impact on its business.

Chairman Young Liu told reporters in Taipei that further escalation of these curbs could affect multiple industries, not just Foxconn.

China expanded its rare earth export controls last week by adding five new elements and imposing stricter rules on semiconductor-related exports.

Foxconn is the main server supplier for Nvidia and the largest iPhone assembler for Apple.

Earlier this month, Foxconn reported record revenue for Q3.

🔗 Source: Reuters

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Implications, context, and why it matters.

China controls ~90% of rare-earth magnet production; Foxconn expects limited short-term impact

Beijing added holmium; erbium; thulium; europium; plus ytterbium to an April list with samarium; gadolinium; terbium; dysprosium; lutetium; scandium; plus yttrium 1. The rules require export licenses for magnets and some semiconductor materials with at least 0.1% heavy rare earths, a subset used to improve high‑temperature magnet performance 1.
April exports of rare-earth permanent magnets (neodymium-iron-boron, NdFeB) fell 45% year over year after licensing began; approvals now flow, though near-term bottlenecks remain 2.
Foxconn is Nvidia’s largest server maker with a focus on assembling GPUs, memory, and power systems; chairman Young Liu downplayed immediate impact.
Within servers, any exposure sits in parts like cooling fans and hard disk drives; these carry a small share of system value, with many sourced outside China or designed with alternatives.

Magnet capacity outside China grows in 2025 to 2026 yet stays small versus China

Neo Performance Materials is building a neodymium‑iron‑boron (NdFeB) magnet plant in Narva, Estonia, with about 2000 t/year capacity and a 2025 start 3.
Output beyond China is expanding, yet China still produces most permanent magnets; scale elsewhere will take years 4.
Governments plus companies in the US, EU, plus Japan fund non‑Chinese supply chains and recycling; near‑term supply tightness persists 5.
Most of the new export rules take effect on December 1, 2025, which gives firms time to adjust sourcing and inventory plans 1.