ITRI plans to build rare-earth materials plant in Taiwan — Taipei Times

Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) plans to build a demonstration plant for the production of rare-earth materials. Construction of the facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2028, and its annual output is to reach 500 tonnes by the end of 2030. This could cover about half of Taiwan’s needs, Taipei Times reports.

Increasing production volumes

ITRI President Chang Pei-jen said that after construction is completed, the institute plans to improve production processes and gradually reach the planned output volumes. ITRI already has an experimental line for producing rare-earth materials, but its annual output is about 5 tonnes. The planned plant is expected to increase this figure 100-fold.

ITRI’s headquarters in Hsinchu County has equipment for separating rare-earth elements and converting them into metals. Some of the equipment for manufacturing high-quality magnets is located at ITRI’s Southern Regional Campus in Tainan.

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Funding and technology

The facility is planned to be located in an industrial park in order to later transfer it to a private company. Funding for the project is expected to be included in the budget of the National Science and Technology Council. Discussions are also ongoing regarding the commercial model, including possible state price guarantees for investors.

Chang Pei-jen noted that processing rare-earth elements is technically complex because of the similarity of their properties. Developing and configuring the separation process can involve hundreds or thousands of stages. The initiative is being considered amid supply chain concerns following China’s export restrictions on rare-earth materials.

According to Reuters, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is exploring alternatives to rare-earth components for its factory equipment to reduce the risk of disruptions at advanced microchip production facilities. The company did not comment on the information.