US Magnet Business History
1990
China declares rare earth elements a protected and strategic material; all rare earth businesses must be Chinese-owned or Sino-foreign joint ventures
1995
Magnequench acquired from General Motors by the Sextant Group (front company for San Huan New Material and China National Non-Ferrous Metals Import & Export Corporation)
1998
Mountain Pass, CA rare earth separation plant closes
1999
China initiates export quotas on rare earth elements
2000
GA Powders subsidiary of Magnequench transferred to China
2002
Mountain Pass, CA rare earth mine suspends all operations
2003
Vacuumschmelze closes and moves Elizabethtown, KY operations to Germany and Slovakia
Chinese export quotas contract approximately 15% from 2000
2004
Magnequench closes Anderson, IN plant and moves NdFeB assembly line to China
2005
Hitachi Metals closes its Edmore, MI production facility (acquired from General Electric in 1973)and imports from Japanese and Korean production sources
China National Offshore Oil Corporation attempts to purchase Unocal, owner of Molycorp and its rare earth mine
2006
Magnequench closes final NdFeB magnet facility in Valparaiso, IN
U.S. Magnetic Materials Association is formed
2008
Chinese export quotas contract approximately 24% from 2005
2010
China issues duties on dysprosium metal and rare earth ferroalloys
China initiates plans for a rare earth stockpile
Rare earth export quotas contract by approximately 40% from 2009
De facto embargo of Japan initiated after a maritime dispute in the East China Sea
2011
China expands the export quotas to include new materials (e.g. rare earth ferroalloys)
Molycorp acquires Santoku America (Tolleson, AZ) and AS Silmet (Sillamäe, Estonia)
Showa Denko and Hitachi Metals (Japan) announce plans to move some rare earth magnet production to China
Hitachi Metals announces intent to produce sintered NdFeB magnets in the United States, primarily for hybrid and electric vehicle markets by 2013
2012
China issues separate production and export quotas for “light” rare earth and “medium/heavy” rare earth products
USA, Japan, and the European Union file a complaint in the World Trade Organization over Chinese export practices for rare earth elements
Molycorp acquires Neo Material Technologies, Inc.
Showa Denko and TDK (Japan) enter joint venture discussions to manufacture rare earth permanent magnets in China
Japanese government, citing technology security, introduces new regulations on “high performance magnets” to prohibit magnet manufacture in China
China begins filling a national stockpile with dysprosium, terbium, europium, and yttrium oxide
U.S. Congress requires the Department of Defense to create policy to ensure reliable sources of “materials critical to national security,” including rare earth elements (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, Section 901)