IPOH, December 2 — Perak will not be affected by the federal government’s short-term suspension on the export of raw rare earth elements (REE).

Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad said the state continues to operate under a special approval granted for its pilot project in Gerik.

“It is a federal policy that raw materials (REE) cannot be exported. The only exception is Perak, because we are still in the pilot project phase.

“We were given special permission to export. Otherwise, the material that has already been extracted would go to waste,” he told a press conference after attending Progam Aspirasi Geospatial at Meru Casuarina Hotel here.

He explained that the approval is granted periodically and remains valid until the federal authorities decide otherwise.

“For the time being, we are still allowed,” he said.

On November 14, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES) decided to impose a moratorium on the export of raw REE for a short-term phase from 2025 to 2027 to support the development of the midstream industry.

NRES said discussions are also being actively conducted with various local and international parties to ensure local processing plants for REE purification and separation, REE metal or alloy production plants, as well as super magnet manufacturing facilities are set up in Malaysia.

Saarani also added that the state is not dependent on long-term export approvals, as Perak is already working to develop a full-fledged non-radioactive rare earth element (NR-REE) industry locally.

“We are building our own NR-REE industry, not only upstream, but also the midstream sector to separate the elements, and more importantly, the downstream sector.

“We want to develop industries that can produce products from these materials,” he said.

Asked whether existing agreements with China would be impacted by the federal government’s decision, Saarani said they would not.

Saarani also added the state welcomes international cooperation on new REE projects, but only under certain conditions.

“If they want to come and share their technology, yes, we welcome them. But if they only want to take our natural resources, that is not allowed.

“They must come and discuss with us, develop the industry together, and there must be technology sharing. Our goal is to optimise the value of our natural resources,” he said.

From February 2023 to July 2025, Perak had collected RM71,583,781.07, equivalent to 20,336.80 metric tonnes of REE export, from China as royalty.

The state government imposed a royalty rate of 12 per cent on the sales value of REE.