{"id":7205,"date":"2025-09-22T11:19:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T08:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maru.ee\/maru-built-europes-first-rare-earth-magnet-factory-for-npm\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T14:57:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T11:57:55","slug":"maru-built-europes-first-rare-earth-magnet-factory-for-npm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maru.ee\/en\/maru-built-europes-first-rare-earth-magnet-factory-for-npm\/","title":{"rendered":"Maru built Europe’s first rare-earth magnet factory for NPM"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last Friday, Neo Performance Materials (NPM) officially launched Europe\u2019s first large-scale production facility for rare earth magnetites in Narva, an event that made headlines in the world\u2019s most influential publications. The plant was built by Maru. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Maru Ehitus<\/a> served as the designer and general contractor; Maru Metall<\/a> manufactured the steel structures; Maru THM<\/a> installed the structures; and Maru Betoonit\u00f6\u00f6d<\/a> performed the concrete work.<\/p>\n\n

The plant was completed in just 500 days\u2014according to NPM executives, this process would have taken four to five times longer in the United States. NPM also released a video<\/a> describing the construction process and emphasizing that the plant was completed \u201con time, on budget, and on spec.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

The news of Neo Performance Materials\u2019 75-million-euro investment garnered global attention, including coverage of the plant\u2019s opening by the Financial Times<\/a> and the New York Times<\/a>, which described it as a long-awaited step toward breaking China\u2019s monopoly on the production of permanent magnets made from rare earth metals.<\/p>\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n

Distinguished Guests<\/h4>\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who posted about the plant\u2019s opening on her LinkedIn account, had already spoken of it as a remarkable achievement at the G7 summit in Canada back in June. \u201cI 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\u2019s Just Transition Fund\u2026 And where does it end up? In German and French electric cars and wind turbines. This little thing tells a big story\u2014a story we\u2019re writing together,\u201d von der Leyen told the G7. <\/p>\n\n

First in Europe<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

The newly opened NPM plant is Europe\u2019s first factory producing rare-earth magnets. As NPM itself states, these are \u201cthe first magnets manufactured in Europe that meet the specifications of Tier 1 electric motor manufacturers and major automotive original equipment manufacturers.\u201d 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. \u201cCustomers are lining up for us,\u201d 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\u2013400 new employees over the next 18 months. <\/p>\n\n

The World’s Top Minds<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The magnet factory currently employs nearly 100 people, including engineers and researchers from Estonia, Slovenia, Brazil, Spain, and Egypt. Vasileios Tsianos, NPM\u2019s vice president of development, told \u00c4rip\u00e4ev<\/a> 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. \u201cThese are people who have chosen to settle in Estonia, raise families here, and build something bigger than what we started in Narva,\u201d said Tsianos. <\/p>\n\n

Complex industrial facilities are a core strength of the Maru Group.<\/strong> Earlier this week, Elcogen\u2019s hydrogen technology plant<\/a>\u2014which was also designed and built by Maru Ehitus in collaboration with other Maru Group companies\u2014was officially opened. This plant has made Elcogen one of Europe\u2019s largest manufacturers of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and solid oxide electrolysis (SOEC) technologies. <\/p>\n\n

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