Posted on 22 Sep 2025
Canada’s Neo Performance Materials on Friday officially opened its rare earth magnet factory in Narva, Estonia, touted as the largest such facility in Europe.
With over 90% of rare earth magnets currently imported into the EU coming from China, the new factory will “greatly increase Europe’s strategic autonomy and competitiveness… crucial for the clean and industrial transition,” the European Commission says in a statement.
The €100 million ($117.5m) facility has an initial capacity of 2,000 tonnes/year of magnet blocks, enough to support the manufacturing of 1.5 million electric cars. Phase two eyes a potential expansion to over 5,000 t/y in the future, Kallanish understands.
Neo’s rare earth separations plant in nearby Sillamäe will provide rare earth feedstock to the Narva plant, where magnetic rare earth oxides will be converted into sintered neodymium-iron-boron magnets. These are essential for a range of applications, including electric vehicles and wind turbines.
Toronto-headquartered Neo commenced the plant’s construction in July 2023. It is backed by €14.5m in funding from the EU’s Just Transition Fund.
“The inauguration of the magnet factory is a perfect example of how Cohesion Policy can make a real difference for a region and its citizens by creating new jobs and boosting the economy,” comments Raffaele Fitto, EC executive vice-president for cohesion and reforms. “But not only that: this EU-funded project will also contribute to increasing the competitiveness of the whole EU. It shows once again how Cohesion policy is a win-win policy for all Europeans.”
Cohesion Policy is the EU’s main investment policy. It aims to reduce disparities between regions in the EU, with funding focused on less developed regions.
Source:Kallanish
