EU to Impose Export Restrictions on Rare Earth Magnet Scrap in 2026, Raise €3B for Projects

South Korea will launch a national R&D project to reuse fuel cells and rare earth permanent magnets recovered from scrapped hydrogen vehicles. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute announced on June 8 that they will begin a national R&D project to safely dismantle end-of-life hydrogen vehicles and reuse or recycle their key components. The ministry will invest KRW 40.8 billion from this year through 2029 to develop technologies in three major areas: safe removal of residual hydrogen and dismantling of key components; development of power generation systems using reused hydrogen storage tanks and fuel cells; and recovery of permanent magnets from end-of-life drive motors and conversion into high-purity rare earth materials.

[SMM Rare Earth Magnetic Materials Newsflash] Recently, CAAM released data showing that China's NEV production in May 2026 reached 1.554 million units, while total automobile production reached 2.616 million units. Based on the SMM survey and model, NdFeB demand from NEVs in China was 6,641.1 mt in May 2026, and total NdFeB consumption in the automotive industry was 6,945.8 mt, up 18.8% YoY. As of now, the automotive sector remains the largest NdFeB consumer, and its share of total consumption is expected to be approximately 30% in 2026.

[SMM Rare Earth Flash News] The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected Phoenix Tailings, based in Oklahoma, for funding negotiations to support its construction of a demonstration facility that will produce high-purity rare earth metals from industrial scrap locally. The project aims to develop a new commercial pathway to realize domestic production of heavy rare earth metals. The project is part of the DOE's "Rare Earth Element Demonstration Facility Program" with a total investment of $134 million, but the specific amount reserved for Phoenix Tailings has not been disclosed.