REalloys (NASDAQ: ALOY) has signed a strategic agreement with permanent magnet manufacturer JS Link to develop one of the first fully integrated non-Chinese rare earth magnet platforms, in what represents a significant milestone in Washington's effort to break Beijing's dominance over the global permanent magnet supply chain. The agreement, reported by Oilprice.com, brings together feedstock, separation, metallization, and permanent magnet manufacturing under a single North American industrial strategy. Permanent magnets are critical components in guided missiles, fighter aircraft, submarines, industrial robots, electric vehicles, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and wind turbines.
China currently manufactures the overwhelming majority of these magnets, giving Beijing substantial leverage over industries central to military modernization, advanced manufacturing, and the global energy transition. The announcement builds on a series of recent strategic moves by REalloys. Only weeks prior, the company was selected by the U.S.
Army for exclusive negotiations to develop heavy rare earth processing facilities at the Tooele Army Depot in Utah. That project established the processing backbone for a domestic supply chain. The JS Link partnership now extends that strategy into finished magnet manufacturing, placing every major stage of rare earth production from feedstock through finished magnets inside a single American industrial platform.
"In rare earths, strategic advantage belongs to the country that builds the magnets. That's the capability we're building here in the United States," REalloys CEO Lipi Sternheim told Oilprice.com. The centerpiece of REalloys' upstream buildout is located in Saskatchewan, Canada, where the company has committed approximately $20.6 million to expand the Saskatchewan Research Council's rare earth processing facility.
REalloys has secured preferred rights to up to 80% of the facility's expanded output, including neodymium-praseodymium metal and separated dysprosium and terbium oxides. Commercial production is targeted to begin in early 2027. Beyond processing, REalloys is funding a dedicated heavy rare earth metallization facility designed to convert dysprosium and terbium oxides into metals.
This facility is expected to become the largest heavy rare earth metallization operation outside of China. The first qualification-scale materials are anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2026, which would place North American-produced dysprosium, terbium, and neodymium-praseodymium into customers' hands for evaluation ahead of full commercial production. Feedstock supply has also been secured through multiple agreements.
REalloys holds a definitive long-term offtake agreement covering 15% of Phase 1 production from Critical Metals' Tanbreez project in Greenland, a strategic alliance and offtake commitment tied to the Sheep Creek rare earth deposit in Montana, and a proposed supply framework with Ramaco Resources for coal-hosted rare earth material from the Brook Mine platform in Wyoming. The urgency of building a domestic rare earth supply chain has been intensified by China's escalating export control measures. Beijing's latest restrictions prohibit foreign companies and individuals worldwide from supplying designated American firms with certain dual-use products, targeting notable rare earth entities including MP Materials and USA Rare Earth.
Crucially, these restrictions follow the material itself rather than the exporter, extending Beijing's leverage over global supply chains built around Chinese processing. The strategic context is further sharpened by the U.S. Department of Defense's January 1, 2027, deadline banning Chinese-origin rare earth magnets from defense procurement, placing significant pressure on American defense manufacturers to secure alternative supply chains.
Among the U.S. defense contractors standing to benefit from a more secure domestic magnet supply are Kratos Defense and Security Solutions (NASDAQ: KTOS), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), and AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV), all of which rely on high-performance permanent magnets for advanced defense platforms ranging from drones and hypersonic systems to missile defense, radar, and electronic warfare. Important disclosure: Oilprice.com, which published the original article, notes that its owner holds shares and/or stock options in REalloys (NASDAQ: ALOY), representing a material conflict of interest. Readers are advised to conduct independent due diligence before making any investment decisions related to the company or its securities.
Source: finance.yahoo.com