Page 166 - CW E-Magazine (4-2-2025)

News from Abroad

PROJECT UPDATE
MP Materials begins production at integrated rare

earth magnet facility in US

US-based rare earths firm, MP Mate-
rials, has started commercial production
of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr)
metal and trial production of automo-
tive-grade, sintered neodymium-iron-
boron (NdFeB) magnets at its flagship
‘Independence’ facility in Fort Worth, Texas.

The company said the development
will bring the US “closer to reestablish-
ing a fully integrated, domestic supply
chain for these critical components for role, the US. has relied almost entirely from Mountain Pass, MP Materials’ mine
the first time in decades.” on foreign sources for these critical and processing facility in California.
inputs for decades.
“With record-setting upstream and In 2024, MP Materials claimed to
midstream production at Mountain MP Materials is seeking to address have achieved record-breaking produc-
Pass and both metal and magnet pro- this gap by building America’s first fully tion at Mountain Pass, delivering more
duction underway at Independence, integrated rare earth metal, alloy, and than 45,000-tonnes of rare earth oxides
we have reached a significant turning magnet manufacturing facility. With (REO) contained in concentrate – “an
point for MP and U.S. competitiveness commercial NdPr metal production all-time high for US primary produc-
in a vital sector,” said Mr. James already online and trial production of sin- tion”. Mountain Pass, America’s only
Litinsky, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of tered magnets underway, the new faci- active rare earth mining and processing
MP Materials. NdFeB magnets – the lity is poised to produce approximately operation of scale, also set a midstream
world’s most powerful and efficient 1,000-tpa of finished NdFeB magnets, production record, producing approxi-
permanent magnets – are essential com- with a gradual production ramp begin- mately 1,300-tonnes of NdPr oxide in
ponents in vehicles, drones, robotics, ning in late 2025. The facility will sup- 2024, in addition to cerium, lanthanum,
electronics, and aerospace and defence ply magnets to General Motors and other and other separated and refined pro-
systems. Despite their indispensable manufacturers, sourcing its raw materials ducts, the company informed.

Lanxess receives excellent sustainability ratings

German speciality chemicals firm, the fourth year in a row. This makes the 100 indicators per industry. In addition,
Lanxess, said it has achieved top posi- company one of the highest-rated in the Lanxess received a gold-level sustain-
tions in several sustainability ratings. “Commodity & Diversified Chemicals” ability rating from EcoVadis. This dis-
In the Dow Jones Sustainability Index industry. MSCI ESG assesses how well tinction is awarded to the top 5% of the
(DJSI) Europe, the company ranked companies manage environmental, more than 100,000 companies evaluat-
first in the “Chemicals” category with social and governance (ESG) risks. ed by EcoVadis. The EcoVadis rating is
79 out of 100 points. In the DJSI World, used by companies to assess the sustain-
Lanxess achieved 4th place and scored Also in November, rating agency ability performance of business partners.
particularly well in the areas of climate ISS ESG raised Lanxess’ rating from
strategy, water, corporate ethics, human B- to B on a scale of A+ to D-, while at Lanxess aims to achieve climate-
rights and product stewardship. the same time confirming the company’s neutral production and energy use by
prime status. This puts Lanxess among 2040. The company also aims to make
In November, rating agency MSCI the best – rated companies in the chemi- the entire value chain climate-neutral
ESG confirmed Lanxess’ AA rating for cal industry. ISS ESG considers around by 2050.

166 Chemical Weekly February 4, 2025

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