Mitsubishi to Import Gallium from Kazakhstan to Diversify Critical Materials Supply
Tokyo, The Gulf Observer: Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp. plans to begin importing the rare metal gallium from Kazakhstan later this year as part of efforts to diversify supply sources of critical materials, media reports said.
Mitsubishi said its subsidiary, Mitsubishi Corporation RtM Japan Ltd., reached an agreement in December with government-affiliated Aluminium of Kazakhstan JSC to procure an average of 15 tons of gallium per year for several years starting from 2026. This will mark Mitsubishi’s first business venture in gallium imports.
Under the deal, the Kazakh company will produce gallium at a new production facility currently under construction in the northeastern city of Pavlodar, with production expected to begin in the third quarter of this year. All gallium produced under the agreement will be shipped to Japan, according to Mitsubishi.
Gallium is a critical material used in power semiconductors for electric vehicles and in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) employed in liquid crystal display panels, among other applications. The metal is typically extracted as a byproduct during aluminum production.
The contract was signed to coincide with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s visit to Japan last month for the first-ever summit between Japan and five Central Asian countries—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan—held in Tokyo on December 20.
According to data from the government-backed Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security, Japan imported 96.5 tons of gallium in 2021, of which 55 tons, or 57 per cent, came from China, highlighting Japan’s reliance on a limited number of supply sources.
