Belgian chemicals group Solvay plans to create the second European site producing rare earths vital for the energy transition, as the continent rushes to break China’s dominance over the hard to extract elements.
The company said on Friday that its La Rochelle plant in France would be upgraded to separate a larger range of the 17 rare earths to include neodymium and praseodymium, which are crucial in the production of magnets for electric vehicles and wind turbines.
The decision to invest tens of millions of euros in the facility comes two days after EU leaders called for new legislation to address China’s grip over the supply chain for critical raw materials. The Asian nation controls 80 per cent of global rare earths processing capacity.
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