Over 2009-2022, export restrictions on industrial raw materials increased more than fivefold, with the most significant increases recorded in the early 2010s (Figure 2.1). Over 2020-22, approximately 13% of global trade in non-waste and scrap industrial raw materials faced at least one export restriction measure.
OECD Inventory of Export Restrictions on Industrial Raw Materials 2024
Monitoring the use of export restrictions amid market and policy tensions
Number of exported raw material products subject to at least one export restriction measure
Note: The count of all types of measures in place across all covered raw materials and all implementing countries, taking into account the stock of measures in place at the beginning of the period, as well as new additions and eliminations.
Source: OECD Inventory on Export Restrictions on Industrial Raw Materials (OECD, 2024[2]).
Waste and scrap products face the highest incidence of export restrictions, reflecting both environmental concerns about the export of such materials for disposal and a desire to draw on the potential of the circular economy as a source of supply of certain metals and minerals (Figure 2.2). That said, these policies may disadvantage foreign users and may be sub-optimal from a global point of view as they may prevent recycling in potentially more efficient foreign locations and undermine the wider deployment of recycling technologies. Moreover, trade in waste and scrap can be essential to achieve the economies of scale needed to make the circular economy viable.
Export restrictions on ores and minerals, in essence the raw materials located upstream in critical raw material supply chains, also increased faster than restrictions in other segments of the critical raw materials supply chain. This correlates with the other observed broad trend towards increasing concentration of production, imports, and exports of products upstream in the supply chain. It is also broadly consistent with the logic of supporting domestic downstream industries via restrictions on exports of upstream products.1
Initial scaled (per HS code) incidence of export restrictions by sector, increase factor, and current scaled incidence
Note: The scaled incidence is the number of export restrictions recorded for the product divided by the number of HS codes that describe that product category. Products are ordered by the scaled incidence in 2020. Increase factor is calculated as the ratio of the scaled count of measures in place in December 2022 and the scaled count of measures in place in January 2009. Products are ordered by the current incidence of export restrictions.
Source: OECD Database on Export Restrictions on Industrial Raw Materials (OECD, 2024[2]).
Of the non-waste and scrap industrial raw materials, potash, molybdenum, tungsten, zirconium and germanium experienced some of the steepest increases in the incidence of export restrictions, while products such as manganese, titanium, copper, phosphates and zirconium and germanium recorded the highest level of incidence in restrictions in 2022 (Figure 2.3).
In the period 2020-22, more than 20% of world exports of cobalt, rare earth elements, tin, palladium, platinum, nickel, copper, iron and steel, manganese, silver and other precious metals ores faced at least one export restriction (Figure 2.4).
Initial scaled (per tariff line) incidence of export restrictions by product-sector*, increase factor**, and current scaled incidence
* Note that all specific HS6 raw material products are classified into the following ‘sectors’ which aim to capture the different stages of processing or types of products : PM – precious metals and stones; OM – ores and minerals; CC- chemicals and compounds; NFMM – non-ferrous minor metals; NFBM – non-ferrous base metals; WS – waste and scrap; FM- ferrous metals.
** Only non-waste and scrap sectors with above average (5.17) increase factors for the period 2009-2022 are shown.
Source: OECD Database on Export Restrictions on Industrial Raw Materials (OECD, 2024[2]).
Share in global exports of a given mineral (%) facing at least one export restriction
Source: OECD Database on Export Restrictions on Industrial Raw Materials (OECD, 2024[2]) and BACI database.
China, India, Viet Nam, Argentina, and Saudi Arabia were the top five countries in terms of the number of new export restrictions introduced over the period 2009-2022, accounting for more than half of the measures introduced (Figure 2.5).
Country shares in the increase in the total number of export restriction measures between 2009 and 2022
Source: OECD Database on Export Restrictions on Industrial Raw Materials.
Export taxes and licensing requirements were the types of measures that contributed the most to the increased global stock of export restrictions for the period 2009-2022. They were also the two most frequently used types of restrictions in 2022. This may be related to the fact that, under WTO rules, quantitative restrictions on exports are generally prohibited, while export taxes and licensing requirements are not.2 The use of quantitative export restrictions, such as export prohibitions or quotas, however, has also been increasing, particularly in recent years. In particular, the incidence of export prohibitions, the most egregious type of export restrictions, has increased significantly since 2020 (Figure 2.6) and were the type of export restriction most frequently introduced in 2022 (Figure 2.7).
Number of countries applying at least one export restriction by type over time
Note: The export taxes category includes export taxes, export surtaxes, and fiscal taxes on exports.
Source: OECD Database on Export Restrictions on Industrial Raw Materials.
Type of new measures introduced in 2022
Note: The export taxes category includes export taxes, export surtaxes, and fiscal taxes on exports.
Source: OECD Database on Export Restrictions on Industrial Raw Materials.