NARVA, Estonia (Chatnewstv.com) — Canadian company Neo Performance Materials is inaugurating a permanent magnet factory in Narva, Estonia, on Friday, Sept. 19, marking the 100 percent completion of a project expected to create more than 500,000 jobs across the auto and renewable energy industries while adding hundreds of new positions in Estonia’s Ida-Viru County.
“The production of magnets is dominated by Asian companies. The reaction in Europe is that production should be in Europe. The start of the European process has now begun here, at one of the starting points in Estonia,” said Constantine Karayannopoulos, chief executive of Neo.
The Narva plant’s initial production capacity is set at 2,000 tonnes of magnetic blocks per year — enough for about 1.5 million electric cars — with plans to scale up to more than 5,000 tonnes, supporting 4.5 million vehicles annually. Karayannopoulos said that expansion could bring the total investment to about €250 million and boost employment to roughly 1,000 people.
The factory will rely on feedstock from Neo’s nearby rare earth separations plant in Sillamäe, Estonia, which will supply high-purity oxides to be processed into neodymium-iron-boron magnets for electric vehicles and wind turbines. Industry experts say the project is crucial for diversifying Europe’s supply chain away from China and creating jobs tied to the continent’s energy transition.
“Neo found in Estonian politicians, civil servants and all local business partners the most entrepreneurial and problem-solving attitude, driven by a collective pursuit for growth and for becoming a strategic jurisdiction for critical supply chains of the Western world,” said Vasileios Tsianos, Neo’s director of corporate development.
Officials in Ida-Viru County, where Narva is located, said the investment aligns with the EU-backed Just Transition Fund aimed at reshaping the region’s economy.
“The war in Ukraine did make the investors uneasy for a while, but they know that this is EU territory, this is NATO territory, and they feel safe here. I hope other companies feel the same,” said Ivan Sergeyev, coordinator of the transition process.
The inauguration on Friday will bring together government leaders, EU officials, investors and industry representatives, underscoring Estonia’s growing role in Western supply chains.
Editor: Gabriel Ani
