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Neodymium

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The key ingredient of neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets, used in electric motors, wind turbines and electronics. It is usually produced and traded together with praseodymium as NdPr oxide, and China produced about 69% of the world's rare-earth ore in 2025.

Supply risk

Reviewed 11 Oct 2026 · Methodology

High

China dominates NdPr separation and magnet making; magnet controls compound it

Supply concentration (critical) decides the level, as China holds about 88% of light rare-earth separation and about 90% of magnet capacity. Export controls on magnet materials, US tariffs on Chinese magnets and stockpiling demand (all elevated) compound it, but neodymium oxide and metal are not themselves licensed, so the level stays at high.

Since 1 Jan 2023 · Sources: Bloomsbury Intelligence and Security Institute, Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, Center for Strategic and International Studies

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Risk drivers

Supply concentrationCritical
China mined about 69% of world rare-earth ore in 2025 (USGS) and holds about 88% of light rare-earth oxide separation and about 90% of magnet fabrication capacity (BISI, Sept 2026). Outside China, MP Materials produced 2,599 t of NdPr oxide in 2025.Sources: U.S. Geological Survey, Bloomsbury Intelligence and Security Institute, MP Materials
Export controlsElevated
Neodymium itself is not licensed, but since 4 Apr 2025 China licenses NdFeB magnet materials containing terbium or dysprosium; carmakers in the US, Europe and Japan cut output in June 2025. China's Oct 2025 extraterritorial magnet rules are suspended until 10 Nov 2026; MOFCOM said on 28 Sep 2026 that the Kuala Lumpur arrangement behind it is extended to 10 Jan 2027 (no amending announcement yet).Sources: Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Jones Day, Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China
Policy & tariffsElevated
A 25% US Section 301 tariff on Chinese-origin permanent magnets has applied since 1 Jan 2026. A US defence sourcing ban on Chinese rare-earth materials takes effect on 1 Jan 2027. Proclamation 11001 (14 Jan 2026) imposed no Section 232 tariff but left further measures open.Sources: White & Case, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Thompson Hine
Operational disruptionLow
No significant mine or separation-plant outage affecting neodymium supply was identified in the 12 months to October 2026; the 2025 magnet shortfalls stemmed from export licensing.
Demand shockElevated
Magnets are the leading global use of rare earths. The US National Defense Stockpile listed 300 t of NdPr oxide and 450 t of NdFeB magnet block as potential FY2025 acquisitions, and in July 2025 the US took a USD 400 million equity stake in MP Materials with an NdPr price floor.Sources: U.S. Geological Survey, Center for Strategic and International Studies, MP Materials

A supply-availability rating, not a price forecast or investment view. Export-control information is factual and is not legal advice.

Trade flows

2024 · HS 280530, 284690

CombinedRare-earth metals and compounds, combined (excluding cerium compounds)

Recorded world imports: 156,822 t · $2.6B

Top exporters

  1. Myanmar28%44,366 t · $818M
  2. China20%31,868 t · $413M
  3. Australia20%31,232 t · $128M
  4. Malaysia10%15,216 t · $278M
  5. Laos7%10,748 t · $260M
  6. Vietnam4%6,616 t · $215M
  7. Japan2%3,538 t · $99.8M
  8. United States1%1,634 t · $52.5M
  9. Austria<1%1,412 t · $20M
  10. Poland<1%1,186 t · $4.42M

Top importers

  1. China48%74,581 t · $1.4B
  2. Malaysia20%31,428 t · $133M
  3. Japan9%14,763 t · $396M
  4. United States6%10,115 t · $156M
  5. Philippines4%6,981 t · $64.9M
  6. Germany3%5,054 t · $71.9M
  7. Taiwan (Other Asia, nes)2%2,431 t · $23.4M
  8. South Korea1%1,677 t · $72.8M
  9. Thailand<1%1,424 t · $79M
  10. India<1%1,375 t · $10.6M

Largest routes

  1. Myanmar→China44,366 t · $818M
  2. Australia→Malaysia31,210 t · $128M
  3. Malaysia→China14,009 t · $206M
  4. China→Japan11,186 t · $186M
  5. Laos→China10,748 t · $260M

Source: UN Comtrade, imports reported by 113 countries for 2024. Exporters are ranked by what importing countries recorded (mirror data), so countries that do not report their own exports are still counted. Values are in US dollars including freight and insurance. Weights are product weight. Recent years can be incomplete, and unrecorded trade is not included.

Overview

Neodymium is a element (LREE), 60.1 Its most important use is in neodymium-iron-boron () permanent magnets, developed in 1983. These very strong magnets made it possible to shrink devices such as mobile phones, microphones and loudspeakers, and they are also used in car parts and wind turbines.2 Magnets are the leading global of .3

Neodymium was separated from praseodymium in 1885, when Carl Auer von Welsbach showed that "didymium", then thought to be one element, was a mixture of the two.2 The pair are still closely linked: NdFeB magnets use mainly neodymium and praseodymium, and separation plants often produce them together as neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) .14

The United States lists neodymium individually as a . The EU includes it in the "light rare earth elements" group and in its strategic "rare earth elements for magnets" entry.56

Where it comes from

Neodymium occurs with the other rare earths, mainly in monazite and bastnaesite. It is recovered by ion exchange and solvent extraction, and the metal is made by reducing neodymium or fluoride with calcium.2 It is usually the third-largest component of light rare-earth , after cerium and lanthanum. Its share varies by deposit: from about 12% at Mountain Pass in California to about 18% at Bayan Obo in China and Mt Weld in Australia, and 30% at the Xunwu ion-adsorption clay deposit in southern China.1

Neodymium share of rare-earth content in selected ore sources2020
  • Xunwu, China (ion-adsorption clay)30%
  • Manavalakurichi, India (monazite)20%
  • Bayan Obo, China (bastnaesite)19%
  • Mt Weld, Australia (monazite)18%
  • Mountain Pass, United States (bastnaesite)12%

Each bar is neodymium's share of the total rare-earth oxide in that source, as tabulated in the USGS 2020 Minerals Yearbook from earlier deposit studies. Bars are separate deposits and do not add up to a total. Source: 2020 Minerals Yearbook: Rare Earths

does not publish neodymium-specific production data. It reports rare earths as a group in rare-earth-oxide (REO) terms. World was an estimated 390,000 t REO in 2025, of which China produced about 270,000 t, or 69%.3 China also dominated the production of separated rare-earth compounds and metals.1

Rare-earth mine production by country (all rare earths, REO equivalent)2025 (est.) · world 390,000 t
  • China69%
  • United States13%
  • Australia7%
  • Burma6%
  • Thailand1%
  • Other countries3%

USGS reports rare earths only as a group, in rare-earth-oxide (REO) terms; these are not neodymium-only figures. World total is the USGS rounded figure; the country estimates sum to 389,310 t. Source: Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Rare Earths

Outside China, separated NdPr output is still small but growing. MP Materials, which mines bastnaesite at Mountain Pass, produced a record 2,599 t of NdPr oxide in 2025, double its 2024 output. It also made its first NdFeB magnets on commercial equipment at its Independence plant in Fort Worth, Texas.4

What it is used for

  • Permanent magnets. NdFeB magnets use mainly neodymium and praseodymium, with smaller amounts of dysprosium, gadolinium and terbium.1 Uses include mobile phones, microphones, loudspeakers, car windscreen wipers and wind turbines.2
  • Glass. With praseodymium, neodymium colors didymium glass, which protects the eyes of welders and glassblowers. Neodymium glass is also used in tanning lamps because it lets ultraviolet light through but blocks heat.2
  • Lasers. Neodymium-based lasers are used in eye surgery, cosmetic procedures, skin cancer treatment and laser pointers.2 Laser crystals are commonly based on neodymium and yttrium.1
  • . Catalysts use mainly lanthanum and cerium, with smaller amounts of neodymium.1 Neodymium oxide and nitrate are used as polymerization catalysts.2

Grades and forms

Neodymium is sold as separated oxide, as mixed NdPr oxide, as metal and NdPr metal, and as magnet and finished magnets. USGS tracks neodymium oxide of at least 99.5% purity and NdPr oxide of at least 99%.3

Neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide

Commonly ≥ 99% total rare-earth oxide

Mixed oxide of the two magnet light rare earths, the main product that separation plants sell into the magnet chain.

Neodymium oxide (Nd₂O₃)

Commonly ≥ 99.5% Nd₂O₃/TREO

Separated oxide used for magnet metal, glass coloring, lasers and catalysts.

Neodymium and NdPr metal

Metal produced from oxide or fluoride, the direct feedstock for magnet alloys.

NdFeB alloy

Neodymium-iron-boron alloy, usually as cast flake or powder, that is pressed and sintered or bonded into magnets.

Sintered and bonded NdFeB magnets

Finished permanent magnets; some grades also contain dysprosium, terbium or gadolinium.

Trade and policy

The United States relied on imports for about 67% of its rare-earth compounds and metals in 2025, and 71% of these imports in 2021–24 came from China. Large amounts of imported rare earths arrive embedded in finished goods, including magnets.3 For fiscal year 2025, the US 's potential acquisitions included 300 t of NdPr oxide and 450 t of NdFeB magnet block.3 In 2025 MP Materials entered a public-private partnership with the US Department of War, which includes government equity investment and a price-protection mechanism for NdPr products.4

Neodymium itself is not among the elements under China's . China's measures still reach NdFeB magnets and the technology to make them:

DateEvent
21 Dec 2023China adds rare-earth extraction and separation technology, and technology to make NdFeB, samarium-cobalt and cerium magnets, to its catalogue of technologies prohibited from export.7
4 Apr 2025China requires export licenses for samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium items, including NdFeB magnet materials that contain terbium or dysprosium.8
9 Oct 2025China announces further controls, including extraterritorial rules for foreign-made rare-earth magnets containing Chinese rare earths (a 0.1% value threshold) and licensing for magnet-manufacturing and other rare-earth technologies.9
7 Nov 2025China suspends the October 2025 measures until 10 November 2026. The April 2025 licensing stays in force, though China has begun issuing general licenses to selected exporters.103
Sep 2026According to BISI, the suspension is extended to 10 January 2027 after a US–China summit in Washington.11

In the EU, "rare earth elements for magnets" (Nd, Pr, Tb, Dy, Gd, Sm and Ce) is a .6 Strategic raw materials carry 2030 benchmarks: 10% of EU consumption from EU extraction, 40% from EU processing and 25% from , and no more than 65% from any single third country.12

This section is factual background, not legal or trade-compliance advice.

Recycling and substitution

Only limited quantities of rare earths are recovered from end-of-life products, mainly from batteries, permanent magnets and fluorescent lamps.3 exist for many rare-earth uses but are generally less effective.3

Sources

  1. 2020 Minerals Yearbook: Rare Earths. U.S. Geological Survey, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  2. Neodymium: element information, properties and uses. Royal Society of Chemistry, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  3. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Rare Earths. U.S. Geological Survey, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  4. MP Materials Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results. MP Materials, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals. Federal Register, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

  6. EU critical raw materials. European Commission Joint Research Centre (RMIS), accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩2

  7. China Publishes the Catalog of Technologies Prohibited or Restricted from Export. ChemRadar (CIRS Group), accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

  8. Announcement No. 18 of 2025 on implementing export control on medium and heavy rare earth related items. Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

  9. China Imposes Extraterritorial Export Control Measures Over Rare Earth Items. Jones Day, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

  10. China Temporarily Suspends Export Controls on Key Raw Materials, Including Rare Earths, Lithium Batteries, and Diamonds. CIRS Group, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

  11. China's Rare Earth Processing Dominance and What the Trump-Xi Summit Didn't Change. Bloomsbury Intelligence and Security Institute, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

  12. Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 (Critical Raw Materials Act). EUR-Lex, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

More light rare earths

US · EUCeCeriumUS · EULaLanthanumUS · EUPrPraseodymiumUS · EUSmSamarium