Chuo Denki Kogyo Launches Rare Earth Recycling in Vietnam

Chuo Denki Kogyo announced on Thursday the firm’s joint venture held a groundbreaking ceremony of a rare earth recycling plant in Bac Ninh Province of Vietnam. Chuo Denki Kyogyo’s subsidiary, Chuden Rare Earth has 70% shares in the JV. The recycling plant will complete in December 2010 and start rare earth production in spring 2011. The plant is expected to process rare earths produced in Vietnam into metal products in future.

The plant is located in an industrial estate 22 kilometers east-southeast from Hanoi. The plant will produce rare earths at 2,000 tonnes per year with about 90 employees at an initial phase, established with approximately 600 million yen of capital expenditure. The JV’s capital is US$ 6 million (approximately 560 million yen).

The plant will separate rare earths from magnet scrap, such as neodymium magnet made in Japan, and produce metallic neodymium and metallic dysprosium. These metals will be consumed in Chuden Rare Earth’s Wakayama plant in Japan as alloy materials.

The new plant can cover 10-20% of Chuden Rare Earth’s rare earth procurement though the firm now procures rare earths totally from China. Chuden Rare Earth can diversify material sources and procure cheaper rare earths.

In future, the plant is expected to use rare earth materials supplied from mines in North Vietnam. Chuo Denki Kogyo group tries to lower dependence on China not only for rare earth metals but materials.