BEIJING - China's commerce ministry said on Thursday it has approved a number of export permits for graphite, the first since a December 1 change in regulations aimed at protecting national security.
The ministry has approved "several" applications from companies that meet relevant requirements, spokeswoman Shu Jueting told a regular press briefing.
The world's top graphite producer and exporter started to require export permits for additional graphite products from this month, raising fears of tighter global supplies of the material used in refractories and batteries.
Beijing has also introduced export licenses on chip-making metals gallium and germanium from August 1, causing shipments to plunge in August and September, before the first approvals were granted in late September.
China had already implemented temporary export controls for some types of graphite, such as graphite flake and spherical graphite, since 2016, which may have made the new graphite rules easier to implement, said an analyst.
The product is shipped in large volumes to the US, Japan and South Korea.