London, June 24th (Argus) - Over the past year, American companies have occupied the leading position in the global rare earth industry, from mining to magnetic materials, except for China, through a series of aggressive acquisitions. These acquisitions were supported by large-scale funds from the US government.
The US uranium producer Energy Fuels is rapidly expanding its rare earth production. On Tuesday, the company announced that it would acquire the German老牌 permanent magnet manufacturer Vacuum Melting Company (VAC) for $1.9 billion. Prior to this acquisition, the US Department of Defense had provided Energy Fuels with a conditional loan of $725 million for rare earth processing.
This acquisition is based on Energy Fuels' $299 million acquisition of the rare earth metal and alloy producer Australian Strategic Materials Company (ASM) on January 21st. ASM owns and operates a metal factory in South Korea, which is one of the few rare earth metal and alloy producers outside China.
Vacuum Melting Company was once one of the few rare earth enterprises in Europe. There are still several active enterprises in Europe, including the Belgian chemical group Solvay, which has a factory in France that produces 4,000 tons of rare earth oxides for automotive catalysts annually. However, the key magnetic material factory in Europe - Neo High Performance Materials Company located in Estonia - has now been acquired by North America.
Two-party issues have been boosted under Trump's administration
During the second term of US President Donald Trump, due to China's implementation of various key mineral export controls in response to the large tariffs imposed by Trump on China, the US government significantly increased its support for the domestic rare earth industry.
The most notable support plan was a $10 billion agreement reached with US producer MP Materials Company in July 2025, which included price floors, purchase guarantees, and direct investment from the US Department of Defense.
Funds continue to flow to domestic projects. In November last year, the US Department of Defense led the provision of a $700 million joint conditional loan to magnetic material producer Vulcan Elements and refining technology supplier ReElement Technologies; in January this year, the US Department of Commerce agreed to provide a $1.6 billion funding package for the US Rare Earth Company (USAR)'s mine-to-magnetic material plan. On June 16th, the US Department of Defense also provided a $500 million loan to Phoenix Tailings Company, headquartered in the United States, for rare earth refining.
Companies funded or controlled by the US have acquired global projects
The influx of funds has given American companies substantial financial strength and security, enabling them to actively acquire the most attractive global rare earth assets that Chinese competitors have not reached.
This acquisition frenzy covers the entire supply chain, from late-stage development mining projects to operating magnetic material manufacturers.
On April 20th, the US Rare Earth Company acquired the Brazilian primary rare earth producer Serra Verde for $2.8 billion. Serra Verde is one of the most advanced primary mining companies outside the United States and aims to achieve an annual production of 6,400 tons of rare earth oxides by 2027. This acquisition comes with a 15-year purchase agreement, with the signatories being a special purpose vehicle funded by US government agencies.
Before this, the US Rare Earth Company acquired the British metal and alloy producer Less Common Metal for $125 million in September last year, strengthening its downstream capabilities. On April 27th, Critical Minerals, a company headquartered in the United States, announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire the Australian mining company European Lithium for $835 million, with the aim of integrating the ownership of the Tanbreez rare earth project in Greenland.
Even companies not directly owned by non-US capital have, in many cases, signed pre-determined purchase agreements with US companies or committed to establishing business layouts in the United States.
The attractiveness of US funds is at the expense of the ambitions of other Western countries. For example, Pensana, a company headquartered in the UK, abandoned its plan to build a rare earth refining plant in the UK using UK government funds and instead prioritized downstream development in the United States and sought US funds.
A considerable portion of companies in the supply chain have either already received US funds or are scrambling to position themselves in order to become the next enterprise to receive funds. This ensures that the US government has significant influence in this broad field.
The success of the US acquisition campaign highlights that the country's approach of ensuring rare earth assets through more direct policy means (such as Trump's continuous attempts to purchase autonomous territories from Denmark) has, to some extent, become redundant. The EU and other non-Chinese countries and regions have not expressed firm opposition to the US's investment in their rare earth assets and companies, nor have they shown willingness to invest the scale of funds that Washington has released in the past 18 months. By providing loans and grants to US companies in the entire field - some of which enable them to make large-scale acquisitions of non-US companies - the US has placed itself at the center of the development of mining and processing outside the United States.
