China’s dominance of rare earths extends far beyond mining and refining. It is strongest at the downstream end of the supply chain, where rare earth materials are turned into the high-performance permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, industrial motors, robotics and other technologies.
JL Mag Rare-Earth is one of the clearest examples.
The Chinese company says it became the world’s largest rare-earth permanent-magnet manufacturer by production and sales volume in 2024. Its 2025 annual report says sales of magnetic materials reached 25,282 tonnes, up 21.25% from the previous year.
JL Mag is operating within an industry that is already heavily concentrated in China. The International Energy Agency estimates that China accounted for 94% of global production of sintered permanent magnets in 2024, the dominant high-performance magnet technology used in applications including electric vehicles and wind turbines.
Estimates cited by Bloomberg put JL Mag’s share of the global rare-earth magnet market at 10% to 20%. The company is also expanding capacity, making it a useful case study in why Western efforts to diversify rare-earth supply face a problem that begins well beyond the mine.
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The Bottleneck Comes After the Mine
Rare earths must pass through several stages before they become finished magnets.
Ore is mined and concentrated. Rare earths are then separated and refined. The resulting materials are converted into metals and alloys before manufacturers produce, sinter, machine, coat and magnetise permanent magnets.
China’s advantage becomes greater as the material moves down this chain.
The IEA estimates that China produced about 60% of mined magnet rare earths, 91% of refined magnet rare earths and 94% of sintered permanent magnets in 2024.
That distinction matters.
A country can develop a rare-earth mine and still depend on overseas suppliers for the processing and magnet manufacturing needed to turn those materials into finished industrial components.
For Washington, rebuilding the supply chain therefore involves more than securing ore and separated oxides. It also requires competitive magnet manufacturing.
JL Mag Is Expanding Capacity
JL Mag’s own expansion plans show the scale of that manufacturing challenge.
The company’s 2024 annual report said it had 38,000 tonnes of annual high-performance rare-earth permanent-magnet capacity at the end of 2024. It planned to reach 40,000 tonnes in 2025 and ultimately 60,000 tonnes by 2027, including a planned 20,000-tonne project in Baotou.
Its 2024 report also said the company produced about 29,300 tonnes of high-performance rare-earth permanent-magnet blanks and sold about 20,900 tonnes of finished products during the year.
Bloomberg separately reported that JL Mag plans to add as much as 20,000 tonnes of annual capacity in Baotou by 2028.
These figures describe different reporting periods and capacity plans, so they should not be treated as interchangeable production numbers.
The broader point is clear: JL Mag is continuing to build scale in an industry where China already has the dominant manufacturing position.
Baotou Shows the Importance of Industrial Clusters
JL Mag’s Baotou operations also illustrate the role of industrial concentration.
Baotou is one of China’s major rare-earth centres and is close to the Bayan Obo mining area. Bloomberg’s reporting on JL Mag describes a local industrial environment containing rare-earth processors, manufacturers and related facilities.
JL Mag’s own filings show that the company operates across several stages of magnet production, including research and development, mould design, blank production, finishing, surface treatment, testing and magnetic components. It also has recycling and rare-earth utilisation activities.
That matters because magnet manufacturing is not simply a matter of installing production equipment.
Manufacturers must meet demanding specifications, qualify products with customers and maintain consistent performance across large production volumes.
JL Mag says its products are used by leading companies in new-energy vehicles and other industries. Its 2024 annual report said its products had been adopted by the world’s top 10 new-energy-vehicle manufacturers for drive motors.
The U.S. Is Rebuilding Magnet Capacity
The United States is trying to recreate this downstream capability.
MP Materials began commercial NdPr metal production at its Independence facility in Fort Worth, Texas, and started trial production of automotive-grade sintered NdFeB magnets in 2025.
The company has since selected Northlake, Texas, for its planned 10X magnet manufacturing campus. MP Materials says it will invest more than $1.25 billion in the project and expects its total U.S. NdFeB magnet capacity to reach approximately 10,000 tonnes per year once the new facility is operational. Commissioning is expected to begin in 2028.
That would give the United States a substantially larger domestic magnet base.
But the comparison with JL Mag also shows the scale of the task. China’s leading manufacturers are operating inside an established national supply chain, while U.S. companies are rebuilding capacity across multiple stages.
The Alternative Is to Reduce Rare-Earth Dependence
There is another route: develop magnets that do not require rare earths.
Niron Magnetics is commercialising permanent magnets based on iron nitride. Its first full-scale manufacturing plant in Sartell, Minnesota, is scheduled to operate in 2027 with capacity of up to 1,500 tonnes a year.
Niron has also announced plans for a later 10,000-tonne-per-year U.S. facility, although that expansion remains part of its future manufacturing roadmap.
The technology is important because it approaches supply-chain diversification differently. Instead of replacing Chinese rare-earth supply with another source of rare earths, it seeks to eliminate rare earths from the magnet itself.
But Niron’s planned production remains small compared with China’s established magnet industry.
JL Mag’s Robotics Push Adds Another Dimension
JL Mag is also targeting newer applications.
Its 2024 annual report says the company is developing magnetic components for humanoid robots and collaborating with technology companies on research and capacity building in that area. It also identifies new-energy vehicles, energy-efficient air conditioning, wind power and industrial servo motors among its downstream markets.
Bloomberg reported that Daiwa Securities identified JL Mag as a supplier of motor rotors for Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot. That is an analyst assessment, not a public confirmation from Tesla, so it should not be treated as an established supplier relationship.
The broader trend is less controversial: JL Mag is positioning itself further downstream, including in magnetic components rather than only supplying magnet materials.
Why JL Mag Matters
JL Mag’s importance comes from what it represents.
China’s rare-earth advantage is not confined to the ownership of mineral resources. It includes refining, materials processing, magnet production, manufacturing expertise and established customer relationships.
That makes supply-chain diversification more difficult.
The United States can develop new mines and processing facilities. It can also build magnet plants, as MP Materials is doing. And companies such as Niron are pursuing technologies that remove rare earths from the equation altogether.
But those efforts must compete with an established Chinese manufacturing ecosystem that already operates at significant scale.
JL Mag is therefore not simply another Chinese rare-earth company.
It is an example of the downstream industrial capability that Washington must replicate, replace or bypass if it wants a genuinely diversified rare-earth magnet supply chain.
