News

Australian producer Lynas Rare Earths is working to produce rare earth metals at a plant in Vietnam that will be built by South Korean company LS Eco Energy, with priority initially given to the production of samarium. Lynas said that under a preliminary agreement, it will supply rare earth oxides to LS Eco Energy’s rare earth metal plant expected to be established in Vietnam for further processing.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment in Vietnam has issued Consolidated Document No. 21/VBHN-BNNMT, detailing a number of provisions, including regulations on the management of rare earth elements. Specifically, in addition to complying with regulations on strategic and important minerals, the surveying, exploration, exploitation, processing, and use of rare earths must follow the national rare earth usage strategy. Activities related must ensure the principles of resource protection, environmental protection, and sustainable development; link extraction and processing with deep processing to increase added value and ensure technological self-reliance; not export rare earth minerals that have not met the required deep-processing standards; and only export deeply processed products.

[SMM Rare Earth Flash] Australian exploration and development company VHM announced on March 23 that it had approved the transition of its Goschen rare earth and mineral sands project in Victoria to full-scale development, abandoning its previous phased advancement strategy and directly launching large-scale operations with annual processing capacity of 5 million mt. The project was granted major project status by the Australian federal government in 2021 and had completed pre-feasibility and definitive feasibility studies, with development conditions fully in place. This move will accelerate the release of the project's resource potential and support the development of Australia's rare earth supply chain.

On the 25th, it was confirmed that the South Korean government will exempt tariffs of 3–8% on critical minerals such as lithium, graphite, and rare earth elements when domestically owned companies directly produce and import them from overseas. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has pre-announced a new regulation outlining tariff exemptions for overseas resource development projects. Under the policy, a total of 14 critical minerals—including lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper, zinc, and rare earth elements such as lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, terbium, dysprosium, yttrium, and scandium—will be eligible for duty exemption when brought into the country. The regulation is set to take effect on April 3.

[SMM Rare Earth Weekly Review: Rare Earth Prices Saw Relatively Small Fluctuations, While Downstream Procurement Demand Remained Weak] The Pr-Nd oxide market was relatively calm this week. Demand from downstream metal plants was sluggish, but upstream supply also remained tight. Suppliers were unwilling to make shipments at low prices, and the back-and-forth negotiations between upstream and downstream remained in a stalemate. Pr-Nd oxide prices saw small fluctuations to 710,000-715,000 yuan/mt.

US rare earth producer Energy Fuels announced that its White Mesa mill in Utah has successfully produced its first batch of terbium oxide with a purity of 99.9. This marks the first time in decades that the US has produced this heavy rare earth element from primary mineral raw materials, using monazite mined in Florida and Georgia. The company had previously trial-produced dysprosium oxide at the facility and is expected to expand heavy rare earth capacity in the coming years. It is estimated that upon completion of the second-phase expansion in 2029, the White Mesa mill will have the annual capacity to produce dysprosium oxide (288 mt), terbium oxide (80 mt), and Pr-Nd oxide (6,000 mt), supporting the development of a domestic rare earth supply chain in the US.

Australia's Lynas Rare Earths announced that it intends to supply rare earth oxides to the rare earth metal plant being built by South Korea's LS Eco Energy in Vietnam, with priority given to samarium production. If the cooperation is ultimately finalized, Lynas will use this to expand its product lines of Pr-Nd alloy and heavy rare earth products such as samarium, dysprosium, and terbium. Lynas is currently the only commercial producer outside China capable of separating samarium, terbium, and dysprosium. The preliminary agreement between the two parties also involves each subscribing to convertible bonds worth about AUD 30 million.

[SMM Analysis:Rare Earth Ore Imports Surge in Early 2026, Exceeding Demand and Causing Surplus] According to the latest data from the General Administration of Customs, from January to February 2026, China’s imports of mixed rare earth carbonate were about 3,013.7 mt, up 321% YoY. Over the same period, imports of unlisted rare earth oxides were about 12,860.4 mt, also posting a sharp increase of 209% YoY.

POSCO International said on Monday that it was accelerating efforts to build a stable global supply chain for heavy rare earths, a key component in EV motors, by establishing its first corporate venture capital (CVC) fund. The company said it had set up a 25 billion won (about $16 million) CVC fund in partnership with POSCO Venture Capital, marking its first such initiative. As the fund’s first deployment, the company will invest 8 billion won in a China rare earth separation and refining specialist enterprise.

[SMM Rare Earth Bulletin] Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae and US President Trump reached an agreement under which both sides will strengthen cooperation on critical minerals to enhance supply chain resilience. The two countries signed a preliminary agreement to jointly develop deep-sea mineral resources, including rare earth-rich mud resources around Minamitorishima. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Department of Commerce will establish a working group to advance technical cooperation on projects involving rare earth mud and manganese nodules. In addition, Mitsubishi Materials is cooperating with US-based ReElement Technologies on a project in Indiana to recycle rare earths from waste magnets.

Goiás State in Brazil holds the largest rare earth reserves in Brazil and is currently advancing the signing of a major minerals cooperation agreement with the US. Goiás Governor Ronaldo Caiado has signed a preliminary agreement to work with the US to jointly develop the state's abundant rare earth resources.

Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) announced that it had selected Toyota Tsusho as the successful bidder to acquire part of the 40% option interest it holds in Namibia’s Lofdal heavy rare earth project. The project contains key permanent magnet elements such as dysprosium and terbium and is currently at the final feasibility study stage. Since 2020, JOGMEC has been working with Canada’s Namibia Critical Metals to advance the project. By bringing in Toyota Tsusho through this bidding process, it aimed to accelerate the project’s commercialization and strengthen the security of Japan’s heavy rare earth supply chain. Against the backdrop of the global heavy rare earth sector’s heavy reliance on China, this move was an important step in Japan’s push to diversify supply.

Recently, the Ministry of Natural Resources released the latest mineral exploration results. The verification and exploration project for rare earth ore resource reserves in the Haoniuping mining area of Mianning County, Sichuan, identified total rare earth oxide resources of 9.6656 million mt, along with associated super-large fluorite (27.1354 million mt) and barite (37.2277 million mt) resources.