Rare earth industry association founded in Belgium

A group of stakeholders from the rare earth supply chain met yesterday in Brussels to establish a global association to develop an integrated, de-risked and sustainable value chain for rare earth materials.

The Rare Earth Industry Association (REIA) was founded by 12 organisations — Chinese producer Golden Dragon, trading firm Noble Group, Japan's Mitsubishi Research, B&C Speakers Italy, JL Mag Europe, Danish pump manufacturer Grundfos, German recycling firm RockLink, French rare earths recycler Carester, Germany's Brugger Magnets, the Chinese Urban Environment Institute, Canadian mining company Mkango and Japanese trading company MTC.

The founding members represent the entire rare earths supply chain, from mining to finished products and research.

The initiative is funded by EU independent body the European Innovation and Technology Raw Materials Fund.

Unlike other critical minerals such as cobalt and magnesium, there has previously been no global industry association to represent the sector's interests.

"REIA offers a unique rare earths platform by creating a global network that will be instrumental in mitigating business risks," the association said.