US-Made Rare Earths to Skip China In Supply Deal With Japan
- Mountain Pass will send output from new plant to Sumitomo
- Deal will “strengthen a supply chain of critical importance”
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America’s only rare-earths producer has agreed a deal to ship output from its new processing plant to Japan, part of a broader move by the US and allies to reduce China’s role in their critical supply chains.
MP Materials Corp., owner of the Mountain Pass mine in California, will sell material from its separation unit direct to trading giant Sumitomo Corp. for distribution in Japan. The mine’s output has typically gone to China for processing, with Japanese companies purchasing from there.