India, July 22 -- Foxconn's Telangana plant has been hit due to shortage of dysprosium, disrupting the production of Apple AirPods, ET reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The shortage is a shadow effect of China's ban on the export of seven critical rare earth elements - samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium. These metals are crucial for producing magnets which are being used in everything from smartphones and fighter jets to electric vehicles and wind turbines.

Of all the rare metals, AirPods primarily requires neodymium and dysprosium. Neodymium, which is used as a magnet, is mined in China and other countries as well.

The Foxconn Interconnect Technology (FIT) factory is located at Ko...