Weekly News Review April 27 – May 3 2026

The EU and the USA are drawing closer on the issue of critical raw materials, China is expanding its influence over the industry, and in Germany, recycling of rare earth elements is making progress.

Find the details in our roundup.

TRANSATLANTIC ALLIANCE AIMS TO SECURE SUPPLY CHAINS:

The United States and the European Union intend to significantly expand their cooperation on critical raw materials. To this end, both sides signed a memorandum of understanding in Washington, D.C. on Friday. The agreement envisages cooperation across the entire value chain, from exploration to recycling. EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also presented an action plan that will examine additional measures to strengthen supply chains. These include subsidies to offset price differences, offtake agreements, and the development of standardized markets.

The initiative comes amid the West’s growing dependence on China for raw materials such as rare earth elements and germanium. China not only dominates mining but, more importantly, processing, giving it substantial influence over both pricing and availability.

The new partnership should therefore be understood as an effort to create a counterbalance to China and enhance economic security. However, building new supply chains and increasing resilience are likely to result in higher costs, as noted this week by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

These costs must be weighed against the potential impact on Western industry if Beijing were to further restrict exports of rare earths. According to a recent study by the International Energy Agency (IEA), such disruptions could amount to losses of up to 6.5 trillion U.S. dollars.

In February, the U.S. government had already presented its ambitions to reshape the global market for critical raw materials to representatives from 54 countries and the European Union.

RAW MATERIALS EXTRACTION: UNITED NATIONS EXTRACTION CALLS FOR REFORMS:

The United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) has examined the consequences of global raw material extraction. According to the authors, worldwide demand for critical minerals needed for the energy transition and digital technologies—such as lithium, cobalt, graphite, copper, and nickel- is expected to roughly quadruple by 2050.

For lithium, cobalt, and graphite in particular, increases of around 500 percent are projected. The report highlights a key concern: many of these resources are sourced from regions already facing severe water stress or widespread poverty.

In response, the authors call for binding international standards, stricter environmental regulations, and the consistent development of a circular economy for batteries and electronic devices. Without fundamental reforms, they warn, the energy transition risks reinforcing existing inequalities.

At present, the benefits of critical raw material extraction are said to accrue primarily to industrialized nations and to wealthy, politically privileged groups.

HYPROMAG LAUNCHES RARE EARTH RECYCLING PLANT IN GERMANY:

Highly energy-efficient process; first facility of its kind in Europe:

Recycling is widely regarded as a key pillar in strengthening Europe’s supply of critical raw materials such as rare earth elements. However, recovery rates in this sector have remained low. Hypromag GmbH, a subsidiary of the Canadian resource development company Mkango Resources, aims to change that. This Tuesday, the company officially inaugurates its new recycling and manufacturing facility in Pforzheim, Baden-Württemberg, the first of its kind in Europe, according to the company.

The plant will focus on recycling and producing sintered permanent magnets made from rare earth elements. It is based on a technology developed at the University of Birmingham that enables direct magnet-to-magnet recycling.

According to Hypromag, the process preserves the neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) alloy, allowing it to be reused after contaminants such as coatings and adhesives are removed. The material can then be processed into fully functional magnets again. The company emphasizes that the method is significantly more energy-efficient than conventional approaches—an important advantage given that high energy costs remain a major challenge for circular economy initiatives.

A key issue, however, persists: securing sufficient feedstock. Large quantities of discarded electronic devices—especially smartphones—remain unused in households. According to the German industry association Bitkom, around 167 million such devices are currently sitting idle in Germany alone. With an average of 0.21 grams of neodymium per smartphone, as estimated by the German Mineral Resources Agency (DERA) at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), this represents a substantial resource potential.

Yet much of this material never re-enters the recycling loop. Moreover, smartphones are just one of many applications for high-performance magnets. Overall, recovery rates for these materials still fall far short of their theoretical potential.

TIGHTER CONTROL OVER CHINA’S RARE EARTH INDUSTRY:

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is planning new sanctions for regulatory violations in the sector.

China’s large-scale consolidation of its rare earth industry has now been completed. The once fragmented market is now dominated by the China Northern Rare Earth Group and the China Rare Earth Group, and is therefore largely state-controlled. However, Beijing continues to tighten its influence over the industry, now in a more granular and targeted way.

According to a report by the Global Times on Wednesday, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is preparing a new penalty framework for violations related to the extraction, smelting, and other processing stages of rare earth production.

Infractions of mining quotas, smelting and separation rules, or other regulations will in the future be penalized under a four-tier system based on severity. Possible sanctions include the confiscation of illegal profits, seized products, and equipment, as well as tiered financial penalties. In particularly serious cases, companies may face revocation of their operating licenses.

Public feedback on the proposal can be submitted to the ministry until the end of May.