Last Friday, Neo Performance Materials (NPM) officially launched Europe’s first large-scale production facility for rare earth magnetites in Narva, an event that made headlines in the world’s most influential publications. The plant was built by Maru.
Maru Ehitus served as the designer and general contractor; Maru Metall manufactured the steel structures; Maru THM installed the structures; and Maru Betoonitööd performed the concrete work.
The plant was completed in just 500 days—according to NPM executives, this process would have taken four to five times longer in the United States. NPM also released a video describing the construction process and emphasizing that the plant was completed “on time, on budget, and on spec.”
The news of Neo Performance Materials’ 75-million-euro investment garnered global attention, including coverage of the plant’s opening by the Financial Times and the New York Times, which described it as a long-awaited step toward breaking China’s monopoly on the production of permanent magnets made from rare earth metals.
The grand opening ceremony was attended by over 270 guests, including top executives from the automotive, energy, and technology sectors who had traveled from all over the world, as well as government officials, media representatives, and investors from Europe, North America, Australia, and Japan.
Distinguished Guests
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal and European Commission Vice President Raffaele Fitto addressed the audience and spoke about the importance of critical minerals and rare earth elements for Europe.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who posted about the plant’s opening on her LinkedIn account, had already spoken of it as a remarkable achievement at the G7 summit in Canada back in June. “I brought a permanent magnet with me. And not just any magnet, but a permanent magnet made from rare earth metals. It was manufactured in Estonia by a Canadian company using raw materials from Australia, and it was supported by the EU’s Just Transition Fund… And where does it end up? In German and French electric cars and wind turbines. This little thing tells a big story—a story we’re writing together,” von der Leyen told the G7.
First in Europe
The newly opened NPM plant is Europe’s first factory producing rare-earth magnets. As NPM itself states, these are “the first magnets manufactured in Europe that meet the specifications of Tier 1 electric motor manufacturers and major automotive original equipment manufacturers.” The first contracts with German auto suppliers Schaeffler and Bosch have already been signed, and reportedly, other major customers are still in the pipeline. In addition, NPM President and CEO Rahim Suleman noted that this is just the beginning. “Customers are lining up for us,” Suleman told the Financial Times, predicting that demand will triple over the next decade. Even before the plant opened, the company announced an expected increase in production capacity from 2,000 metric tons to 5,000 metric tons, as well as plans to hire 300–400 new employees over the next 18 months.
The World’s Top Minds
The magnet factory currently employs nearly 100 people, including engineers and researchers from Estonia, Slovenia, Brazil, Spain, and Egypt. Vasileios Tsianos, NPM’s vice president of development, told Äripäev that these are renowned doctors of magnetism who conducted academic research, but who had no industrial facilities in Europe or the West where they could apply their skills. “These are people who have chosen to settle in Estonia, raise families here, and build something bigger than what we started in Narva,” said Tsianos.
Complex industrial facilities are a core strength of the Maru Group. Earlier this week, Elcogen’s hydrogen technology plant—which was also designed and built by Maru Ehitus in collaboration with other Maru Group companies—was officially opened. This plant has made Elcogen one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and solid oxide electrolysis (SOEC) technologies.
Video: NPM