中國以外稀土磁鐵生產競爭揭開序幕（2/2）

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

The Race Is on to Make Rare Earth Magnets Outside China (2/2)

After Beijing exerted its power over the valuable magnets as leverage, other countries started to add production, but only incrementally. And China is far ahead.

By Keith Bradsher- he has covered the rare earths industry since 2009, reported from Narva, Sillamae and Tallinn in Estonia.

Sept. 19, 2025

Updated 6:30 a.m. ET

(continue)

A third company, USA Rare Earth, has built a factory in Stillwater, Okla. The factory is expected to be producing at an annual pace of 600 tons at the end of next year and twice that by early 2027, said David Bushi, the company’s senior vice president of manufacturing. A fourth company, Noveon Magnetics, has built a factory near Austin, Texas.

But these are optimistic forecasts, industry executives said. Building a rare earth magnet factory is easier than running one, and it can take as long as three years to ramp up fully. Quality standards are exacting and require the work of experienced technicians.

A factory needs to be able to make dozens of different kinds of rare earth magnets. One gasoline-powered car can use more than 40 rare earth magnets, often weighing a third of an ounce or less, for the motors in the seats, brakes, side mirrors and other systems. Electric cars need additional magnets.

One reason China is so far ahead in magnets is its near total control over the processing of ore to extract rare earth minerals. Chinese refineries produce over 99 percent of the world’s supply of three kinds of rare earths crucial to making magnets that can resist heat. Many mines in other countries, including the United States, have long shipped their ore to China to be refined.

China’s reach in rare earths extends into other countries. Shenghe Resources, which is partly owned by the Chinese government, has invested in or signed contracts with many of the new rare earth mines and refineries.

Most of the world’s rare earth processing equipment is made by China, which has begun restricting equipment exports. China employs nearly all the world’s technicians working in the refineries, and the government has recently barred most of them from leaving the country.

“It’s not easy to find technical people outside of China,” said Ramón Barúa Costa, the chief executive of Aclara Resources, which is building a rare earth mine in Brazil.

 

In Estonia, a town with fifth-generation technicians

For companies and countries trying to wean themselves off China’s rare earth magnets, a lot is riding on Neo’s operations in easternmost Estonia. Sillamae, where Neo refines rare earths, became a center of shale oil production in the 1920s and rare metals production in the 1980s. Narva, where Neo has built its magnet factory, is on a river bend that juts into Russia.

So close to Russia, Narva seems a peculiar location for a European initiative toward achieving greater self-reliance for critical minerals. In 2022, four months after his invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia noted the strategic importance of Narva to Russia. Many in Estonia, formerly part of the Soviet Union and now a member of the European Union, were alarmed at his remarks.

In a written reply to questions, Prime Minister Kristen Michal of Estonia said: “Our defense investments, combined with the firm commitments of our allies to the security of our region, are strong guarantees for continued economic prosperity in this part of the world.”

Neo itself has a deep lineage in rare earths. It owns Magnequench, a former General Motors subsidiary that invented applications for rare earth magnets in the 1980s and 1990s. In recent years Neo has shifted part of its rare earths production from China to Sillamae.

Neo’s new magnet factory in Narva has an initial capacity of 2,000 tons, and parts of the factory have already been built for 5,000 tons.

But even ramping up production to 2,000 tons may take three years because of the complexities of running a magnet factory, said Rahim Suleman, Neo’s chief executive, who questioned whether other companies could move faster.

“If you have not done it before,” he said, “you just don’t know.”

Translation

中國以外稀土磁鐵生產競爭揭開序幕（2/2）

在北京利用其對高價磁鐵的影響力作為籌碼後，其他國家也開始增加產量，但只是逐步地漸進。而中國遙遙領先。

（繼續）

第三家公司 - USA Rare Earth 已在俄克拉荷馬州 Stillwater市建廠。該公司負責製造部門的高級副總裁David Bushi 表示，預計該工廠明年年底的年產量將達到600噸，到2027年初將翻倍。第四家公司 - Noveon Magnetics 已在德州奧斯汀附近建廠。

但業內高層表示，這些都是樂觀的預測。建造一座稀土磁鐵工廠比去營運它容易，可能需要營運長達三年的時間才能完全投入生產。品質標準非常嚴格，需要經驗豐富的技術人員的參與。

一家工廠需要能夠生產數十種不同類型的稀土磁鐵。汽油驅動的汽車可能需要40多個稀土磁鐵，這些稀土磁體的重量通常只有三分之一盎司或更輕，用於座椅、煞車、後視鏡和其他系統的馬達。電動車則需要更多的磁鐵。

中國在磁鐵領域遙遙領先的原因之一是其幾乎完全控制稀土礦物的加工過程。中國的冶煉廠生產了全球三種的稀土元素 99%以上，而這三種元素對於製造耐熱磁鐵至關重要。包括美國在內的許多其他國家的礦場長期以來都將礦石運往中國進行冶煉。

中國的稀土業務範圍已延伸至其他國家。Shenghe資源公司（部分由中國政府所有）已向許多新建稀土礦和精煉廠投資或與它們簽訂合約。

全球大部分稀土加工設備由中國製造，而中國已開始限制設備出口。中國僱用了幾乎所有在精煉廠工作的技術人員，而中國政府最近禁止其中大多數人離開中國。

正在巴西建造稀土礦的Aclara資源公司執行長Ramón Barúa Costa說: 「在中國以外尋找技術人員並不容易」。

愛沙尼亞，一座擁有第五代技術人員的小鎮

對於那些試圖擺脫對中國稀土磁鐵依賴的公司和國家來說，Neo公司在愛沙尼亞最東部地區的業務至關重要。 Neo公司在Sillamae 進行稀土精煉, 在1920年代它成為頁岩油生產中心，在1980年代成為稀土金屬生產中心。 Neo公司在Narva建造了磁鐵工廠，位於一條伸入俄羅斯的河灣上。

Narva距離俄羅斯如此之近，對於一項旨在實現關鍵礦產更大程度自給自足的歐洲倡議而言，這似乎是一個特殊的地點。 2022年，在入侵烏克蘭四個月後，俄羅斯總統普京指出了納爾瓦對俄羅斯的戰略重要性。愛沙尼亞曾是蘇聯的一部分，現在是歐盟成員國，許多愛沙尼亞人對他的言論感到震驚。

愛沙尼亞總理 Kristen Michal 在書面答覆中表示： “我們的國防投資，加上我們盟友對我們地區安全的堅定承諾，是該地區持續經濟繁榮的有力保障。”

Neo公司本身在稀土領域有著深厚的淵源。該公司旗下擁有 Magnequench公司，該公司曾是​​通用汽車的子公司，在1980年代和1990年代發明了稀土磁鐵的應用。近年來，Neo已將部分稀土生產從中國轉移到了Sillamae。

Neo位於Narva的新磁鐵工廠初始產能為2,000噸，一個產能達5,000噸的工廠已部分建成。

Neo執行長Rahim Suleman表示，由於營運磁鐵工廠的複雜性，即使將產量提升到2,000噸也可能需要三年時間。他質疑其他公司的進程是可以更快。

他說: “如果你以前沒有做過” ， “你就不會知道。”

So, China is suspending exports of powerful rare earth magnets that many industries around the world can’t live without. The move gives renewed urgency to efforts to develop alternatives. In the United States, four rare earth magnets factories are finishing construction or starting to produce magnets. An especially large factory has just opened in Eastern Europe. Apparent, it will take some time before for the rest of the world can catch up.