2 ms·
Japan is the only other country besides China and Korea that produces magnets of high quality (higher in fact than the Chinese), they just don't do the volume.
by jacquesm 8mo ago
Japan is the only other country besides China and Korea that produces magnets of high quality (higher in fact than the Chinese), they just don't do the volume. But there is absolutely no doubt that they could scale up if they wanted to.
They're just more expensive, but not even that much.
- dyauspitr 8mo agoIndia is looking to produce 6000 tonnes of NdFeB magnets per year with the first batch coming out in mid 2026. This is great news because India has large rare earth reserves and are producing using the full supply chain of ore to oxide to magnets. 6000 tonnes is like 3% of the global supply but that’s not bad for year one.
- jacquesm 8mo agoThat's super good news, do you have any info on the name of the manufacturer?
- dyauspitr 8mo agoIREL Limited and Sona Comstar. Trafalgar will be the first large scale NdFeB magnet plant looking to start production in 2027 https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/trafalgar-sets-sights-on-rare-earth-magnet-plant-in-india/ https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/trafalgar-sets-sights-o...
- jacquesm 8mo agoThank you, I will make someone super happy with this news.
- mullingitover 8mo agoThey manufacture the magnets, but they don't produce the rare earths themselves. They're still getting something like 60-70% of their supply from China.
- jacquesm 8mo agoThat's 60% to 70% down from 90%+ and dropping steadily every year. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/business/japan-rare-earths-lynas.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/business/japan-rare-earth...
- mullingitover 8mo agoRight, and that 20-30% drop took them fifteen years. That's not exactly the blink of an eye, they're still looking at many decades to fully wean themselves off Chinese sources.