LS Eco Energy builds samarium metal production facility in Vietnam… Investment of 11.6 billion won

LS Eco Energy announced on the 30th that it will invest 11.6 billion won to build a Samarium metal production facility in Vietnam.

Samarium metal is a key raw material for samarium-cobalt (SmCo) permanent magnets that maintain stable magnetism even at high temperatures. SmCo permanent magnets are mainly used in the aerospace and defense fields, such as fighter jets and missiles.

LS Eco Energy will build a production facility with an annual capacity of approximately 240 tons at the LSCV site in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. It is capable of producing approximately 700 to 1,000 tons of SmCo permanent magnets per year, and is scheduled to begin mass production in December.

As the United States plans to expand supply chain regulations for SmCo permanent magnets for Department of Defense procurement to the raw material stage starting in January 2027, the importance of the non-Chinese samarium supply chain in the defense industry is expected to increase further.

This investment is the first commercialization of the collaboration between LS Eco Energy and Australia's Lynas, the only company that separates and commercially produces rare earth elements outside of China, leading to actual production. The two companies mutually acquired convertible bonds (CB) worth 30 billion won each in July.

A non-Chinese supply chain will be established in which Linus will supply rare earth raw materials and LS Eco Energy will produce metals in Vietnam and supply them to LS Cable & System's permanent magnet plant.

LS Eco Energy plans to expand rare earth metal production items to include dysprosium (Dy), terbium (Tb), neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr).