Viewpoint: Rare earths industry at a pivotal moment

Electrification of the transport sector is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the rare earths industry but the challenges are considerable and will require strong collaboration across the supply chain and across borders.

"We have to collectively work out what needs to happen for the rare earths industry to capture this moment of rapid technological change and build the global magnet supply chains to sustain it," Canadian firm Neo Performance Materials' chief executive, Constantine Karayannopoulos, told delegates at this week's Metal Events 17th International Rare Earths Conference in London. "If the supply has to come from a single source, such as China, or from projects or operations that do not exist yet, I think the big OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] will be reluctant to fully commit to the technology," he added.

Motors with neodymium iron boron rare earth magnets — most of which also contain praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium — are widely accepted to be the most efficient way of converting electrical energy into motion in a vehicle. This makes them the obvious choice. But nothing is that simple.

OEMs in Germany are understood to be setting goals of a diversified, resilient and fully environmental and social governance-compliant rare earth magnet supply chain by 2025. To industry observers that is a startling deadline. But it is also no less startling than some of the government commitments around the world on phasing out the use of internal combustion engine vehicles.

Leaving aside the technical and financial challenge, rare earths have an image problem. A history of poor mining practices, pollution and political conflict have done enormous damage to the industry.

Rare earth prices soared to unmanageably high levels in 2010-11, when China temporarily restricted exports following a dispute with Japan. Buyers around the world panicked and there was a big push to cut back consumption and design away from rare earths.

The way forward

"Real change needs to be led by the biggest ultimate customers, the OEMs. They need to make their views known. There is nothing mysterious about supply chains — they form rationally as a result of demand pull," Karayannopoulos said. "The customers with their choices dictate what the automakers need to produce and in turn the automakers pull their Tier 1s. And governments need to create the regulatory framework," he added.

Government initiatives in the EU, the UK, the US and Australia, among other countries, are slowly starting to gather momentum.

Looking across the entire industry, it is difficult to imagine any solution restricted to one country, company or entity. "Working across borders, looking out not in is the only way we are going to see some of the change we need," said Will Drury, Driving the Electric Revolution Challenge Director at government-sponsored public body UK Research and Investment.

By Caroline Messecar