Critical Minerals Factbook
Facility

Santoku Kobe rare earth operations

Rare earth metal and magnet alloy operations of Santoku Co., Ltd., headquartered in Higashinada-ku, Kobe (Hyogo). The company profile lists neodymium magnet alloys, samarium magnet alloys, hydrogen storage alloys and high-purity rare earth metals as main products, with plants in Miki, Akashi and Tsuruga besides the Kobe head office; the record location is the Kobe HQ. JOGMEC lists a JFY2026 Critical Minerals Grant of about 0.8 billion yen for new domestic rare earth refining equipment (site not stated), and METI approved Santoku's permanent-magnet supply assurance plan 2024永久磁石第3号-1 (waste-magnet rare earth recycling equipment) on July 24, 2024.

Facts on this page last re-verified Aug 11, 2026 — the oldest verification date among its current claims. How we verify.

Location: Kobe, Hyogo, Japan

Metals & alloys

Rare earth metal and magnet alloy production

Operating

Production of neodymium magnet alloys, samarium magnet alloys and high-purity rare earth metals per the company profile; specific process routes are not stated in the sources

Material flow

NdPr Oxide → NdFeB Alloy, NdPr Metal

Capacity

No capacity claim. Absence of a figure means no source publishes one.

Qualification

No qualification claim. Status does not imply qualified output.

Separation

Rare earth refining (new build, JOGMEC-funded)

Announced

New domestic rare earth refining (製錬) equipment to increase rare earth production per the JOGMEC grant description; process route, feedstock and site are not stated in the sources (grant decision listed by fiscal year JFY2026 only)

Material flow

Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate → NdPr Oxide

Capacity

No capacity claim. Absence of a figure means no source publishes one.

Qualification

No qualification claim. Status does not imply qualified output.

Sources