According to news on October 4, 2023, Posco International, a trading and energy subsidiary of South Korean steelmaker Pohang Iron and Steel Co. Ltd (POSCO), announced plans to build a factory in the United States in cooperation with Star Group, a South Korean company specializing in rare earths to produce permanent magnets for electric vehicle (EV) transmission systems.
It is reported that POSCO and Star Group were negotiating with the governments of Texas, Tennessee and Arizona on the location of the electric vehicle magnet factory. The two companies hope to jointly invest 300 billion won ($220 million) to build a factory with an initial production capacity of 3,000 mt of permanent magnets per year, which will later be increased to 5,000 mt, enough to produce 2.5 million electric vehicles.
Star Group’s goal is to produce 5,000 mt of neodymium magnets per year by 2025, which can meet the battery needs for the production of 2 million electric vehicles. Star Group's production capacity accounts for about 3% of the global market. Although it is still insignificant compared with China, it is equivalent to about half of the US imports of neodymium magnets last year.
