PERTH, March 30, 2026, 04:09 AWST.
Lynas Rare Earths said late last week it would work with South Korea’s LS Eco Energy on a Vietnam processing venture that would turn Lynas rare-earth oxides into metals for permanent magnets. The preliminary plan would pull the Australian miner deeper into a part of the supply chain long dominated by China, with LS Eco targeting a fourth-quarter start for the Vietnam plant and magnet production in the United States. 1
The timing matters because governments and manufacturers are scrambling to lock in non-Chinese rare-earth material after Beijing’s export curbs last year. Arafura Rare Earths chief executive Darryl Cuzzubbo said Germany and South Korea were “quite exposed” as the United States and Japan move first, and Reuters reported that Lynas and MP Materials are the only Western producers operating at scale. 2
Rare earths are a group of metals used in strong permanent magnets found in electric vehicles, wind turbines, smartphones and defence gear. This month Lynas also signed a four-year U.S. supply framework worth about $96 million and extended its Japan Australia Rare Earths agreement to 2038, both tied to a floor price of $110 a kilogram for neodymium-praseodymium, or NdPr, the magnet material at the centre of the market. 3
Chief Executive Amanda Lacaze said in a filing that “secure access to metallisation is critical” — a reference to the step that converts rare-earth oxides into metal ready for magnet makers. Lynas and LS Eco Energy also agreed to work toward separate convertible-instrument investments of about A$30 million each.
The Vietnam plan also lands just after Lynas said its Malaysia plant produced first samarium oxide ahead of schedule. Samarium is used in high-performance magnets for aerospace and electronics, and the company said the output expanded its separated heavy rare earth product range to three products. 4
That matters because Malaysia remains central to Lynas’ processing base. Kuala Lumpur renewed the plant’s licence for 10 years this month, although it also told Lynas to stop generating new radioactive waste after five years and to direct 1% of annual gross sales toward research and development in Malaysia. 5
Canberra is moving to support the sector as well. Resources Minister Madeleine King said Australia’s planned A$1.2 billion critical minerals reserve will include some form of floor price, and she said France is among countries showing more interest in Australian critical-minerals projects as allies race to secure supply. 6
But the path is not clean. The LS Eco arrangement is still preliminary, non-Chinese producers are battling Chinese rivals on price and technology, and weaker electric-vehicle demand has made new processing projects harder to finance. Lynas is also still dealing with power reliability problems at Kalgoorlie, while Lacaze is due to step down at the end of the financial year after the board began a succession search in January. 1
