MP Materials Corp. / DE

Cessation of Shipments to China and Stockpiling of Rare Earth Concentrate

During March and April 2025, the U.S. and China made a number of changes to their trade policies, including the implementation by China of increased tariffs that impacted our business and our products.

President Trump signed an Executive Order, titled “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production,” to encourage domestic production of critical minerals and reduce reliance on foreign imports. President Trump also ordered a probe into potential new tariffs on all U.S. critical minerals imports, with the Secretary of Commerce set to begin a national security review under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and provide a report within 180 days.

In addition, the U.S. implemented and increased tariffs on a wide array of imports from around 90 countries. These new and increased tariffs, along with other U.S. trade actions, precipitated retaliatory actions by foreign governments, including China, which imposed an escalating series of tariffs on U.S. products that culminated in a 125% tariff on U.S. imports into China. While President Trump recently announced a temporary 90-day pause on many of these tariffs, resulting in a parallel reprieve of many retaliatory tariffs, many of the tariffs imposed on U.S. exports to and imports from China remain in place, including the 125% tariff on U.S. imports that applies to our business.

In response to, and due to, among other considerations, the additional cost of, China’s retaliatory tariffs and export controls, on April 17, 2025, we announced the strategic decision to cease shipments of rare earth concentrate to China. Historically, through our Materials segment, we sold the vast majority of our rare earth concentrate to a single, principal customer in China, Shenghe Resources (Singapore) International Trading Pte. Ltd. (“Shenghe”), under the terms of the Offtake Agreement (as defined in Note 19, “Related-Party Transactions,” in the notes to the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements). Sales of rare earth concentrate to Shenghe accounted for approximately 50% and 70% of our consolidated revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2025, and for the year ended December 31, 2024, respectively. Despite ceasing shipments to Shenghe, the Offtake Agreement continues in effect through expiration in January 2026 (subject to our option in our discretion to extend the term for an additional one year period) and would govern our future shipments of rare earth concentrate to Shenghe in the event that we resume shipping to China during the term of the agreement.

Since ceasing shipments of rare earth concentrate to China, we continue to produce concentrate, and to the extent not further processed and sold as separated product, we will stockpile that concentrate for future use. This includes potential sales to customers located outside of China. In addition, we are prioritizing accelerating our downstream operations, as well as focusing on generating sales of separated products to customers outside of China. We have also been in close contact with federal leaders, as well as in communications with manufacturers across critical industries that are in need of a source of materials and magnets.

The events described above have had, and are expected, at least in the near-term, to continue to have, a material negative impact on our business, operating results, financial performance and financial condition, cash flows and liquidity. However, whether such negative impact continues, and the significance, extent and duration of the impact, particularly in the longer-term, remains largely uncertain and dependent on future developments that cannot be accurately predicted at this time, such as: further actions that the U.S. government may take in encouraging domestic production of critical minerals and reducing reliance on foreign imports (including whether or not we receive any direct support from the U.S. government); further changes in trade policies in the U.S., China or other countries, including the implementation of new and retaliatory tariffs, increases in or reductions of existing tariffs, or the taking of other actions; if, when and to what extent we resume shipments of our rare earth concentrate to China; our ability to find, and enter into agreements with, additional or replacement customers for our rare earth concentrate; and our ability to accelerate our downstream operations and expansion and achieve our business milestones.

Factors Affecting Our Performance

We believe we are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the trends of electrification and supply chain security, particularly as domestic xEV production and domestic industrial supply chain initiatives grow. Our continued success depends to a significant extent on our ability to take advantage of the following opportunities and meet the challenges associated with them.

Demand for REE

The key demand drivers for REE are a diverse array of growing end markets, including electric mobility; industrial, consumer and professional service robotics; renewable power generation; energy-efficient motors, pumps, and compressors; consumer and medical applications; critical defense systems; and catalysts and phosphors. Accordingly, the demand for our products may be impacted by demand for these downstream products, particularly the continued growth in xEVs. Despite the current macroeconomic conditions, we continue to believe that we benefit from the growth of the rare earth market, particularly the market for NdPr and permanent magnets, and from several demand tailwinds for REE. These include the trend toward electrification; geographic supply chain diversification, particularly in relation to China; the U.S. government initiatives to restore domestic supply of critical minerals; and the increasing requirement for environmentally-conscious production methods.

Furthermore, as mentioned in the“Recent Developments” section above, in April 2025, China imposed export controls, which include export restrictions on seven REEs and certain magnets used in the defense, energy, and automotive sectors. The new restrictions require companies to secure special export licenses to export the REEs and magnets. This development is likely to lead to disruptions in supply chains, shortages of rare earth elements, and potentially price volatility, all of which may have a material impact on the demand for our products.

Changes in technology could reduce the use of REE, including NdPr, in the components in which they are now used, or lead to a decline in reliance on such components altogether. Additionally, export controls and supply chain disruptions may also incentivize companies and governments to build alternative supply chains and create economic pressure to identify or create alternate technologies that ultimately could depress long-term demand for rare earth minerals and products, and at the same time may incentivize development of competing mining properties. Actual, or perceived, decreases in demand for REE, whether through changes in technology or slower growth in the end markets that utilize REE, could result in a decline in the market price of REE, including NdPr, and/or result in pricing volatility. We also operate in a competitive industry. Many of our key competitors are based in China, where competitors may not be subject to the same rigorous environmental standards or may receive disproportionate government subsidies, and production costs are typically lower than in the U.S.

Maximizing Upstream (“Stage I”) and Midstream (“Stage II”) Production Efficiency

Following the implementation of our Stage I optimization plan, we have achieved at least 40,000 metric tons (“MTs”) of annual REO Production Volume since 2021. These results were achieved by optimizing the reagent scheme, reducing process temperatures, improving tailings facility management, and committing to operational excellence, which allowed us to achieve record production levels in 2024. Our Stage I optimization plan has enabled us to achieve what we believe to be world-class production cost levels for rare earth concentrate.

In November 2023, we announced our “Upstream 60K” strategy whereby we intend to grow our annual REO Production Volume to approximately 60,000 MTs by expanding upstream capacity via investments in further beneficiation, including the ability to process alternative feedstocks and upgrade lower-grade feedstocks. We aim to achieve this initiative within the next three years with modest incremental capital investment.

Stage II advanced our operations from the production of rare earth concentrate to the separation of individual REE. The Stage II optimization project incorporated upgrades and enhancements to the prior facility process flow to produce separated REE at a lower cost while minimizing our impact on the environment. More specifically, we have reintroduced an oxidizing roasting circuit, reoriented portions of the plant process flow, increased product finishing capacity, improved wastewater management, and made other improvements to materials handling and storage. The reintroduction of the oxidizing roasting circuit allows subsequent stages of the production process to occur at lower temperatures, and with lower volumes of materials and reagents, which supports lower operating and maintenance costs and higher uptime than would otherwise be achievable.

The success of our business reflects our ability to continue to manage our costs and drive scale. Our upstream production achievements have provided economies of scale to lower production costs per MT of REO produced in concentrate. Furthermore, we designed our midstream process flow to capitalize on the inherent advantages of the bastnaesite ore at Mountain Pass, which is well-suited to low-cost refining by selectively eliminating the need to carry cerium, a lower-value element, through the separations process. Additionally, our location and integration offer cost and transportation advantages that create meaningful efficiencies in production, security of incoming supplies and shipping of our final products.

During the second half of 2023, we began producing separated rare earth products. We continue to expect that it may take many quarters to achieve our designed throughput of separated products. As we increase production of separated products over time, we expect to reduce our per-unit production costs of NdPr oxide, which represents a majority of the value contained in our concentrate. Until such time, we may experience unstable operations and elevated costs of our initial production of separated products.

We currently generate our revenue primarily from our Materials segment, which operates a single site in a single location, and any stoppage in activity, including for reasons outside of our control, could adversely impact our production, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, several of our current and potential competitors are government supported and may have access to substantially more capital, which may allow them to make similar or greater efficiency improvements or undercut market prices for our products.

Development of Our Downstream Manufacturing Capabilities (“Stage III”)

We are completing the installation of equipment at Independence and continue to develop engineering and manufacturing technology to process NdPr metal into magnets, while incorporating magnet recycling capabilities. These initiatives support our long-term plans to become a leading global source for rare earth magnets. We believe integration into magnet production will provide some protection from commodity pricing volatility, while also enhancing our business profile as the producer of a critical industrial output in addition to a producer of resources. We expect our downstream manufacturing efforts to continue to benefit from geopolitical developments, including initiatives to repatriate critical materials supply chains.

In December 2024, we commissioned our electrowinning capability to produce NdPr metal from NdPr oxide at Independence. Further, we introduced capabilities to produce neodymium-praseodymium-iron-boron alloy flake, a key precursor product that is utilized as the material feedstock for magnet manufacturing. In addition, we recently began trial production of automotive-grade, sintered NdFeB magnets at our NPI facility within Independence. We began generating revenue from sales of magnetic precursor products in the first quarter of 2025. We expect to continue generating revenue from these sales ahead of commissioning of our magnet manufacturing capabilities, which are targeted to enter service at the end of

2025. Following commissioning of these capabilities and qualification of our finished magnets, we expect to generate revenue primarily from the sale of finished magnets.

While we have grown increasingly confident about our future outlook with the progress made to-date, there are inherent risks in finalizing construction and developing the process technology for magnet manufacturing. For instance, unforeseen delays in construction or the installation of specific equipment may occur, or our products may fail to satisfy customer expectations, which could adversely affect both the amount and timing of our revenue from permanent magnets and precursor products. Furthermore, we anticipate that nearly all revenue from permanent magnets and precursor products will come from a single customer, thus concentrating the risk, including the possibility that demand might not meet our current expectations.

Our Mineral Reserves

Our ore body has proven over more than 60 years of operations to be one of the world’s largest and highest-grade rare earth resources. As of December 31, 2024, SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc., an independent consulting firm that we retained to assess our reserves, estimated total proven and probable reserves of 2.04 million short tons of REO contained in 29.69 million short tons of ore at Mountain Pass, with an average ore grade of 5.97%. These estimates use an estimated economical cut-off grade of 2.50% total rare earth oxide. Based on these estimated reserves and our expected annual production rate of REO upon production ramp-up of our midstream operations, our expected mine life was approximately 29 years as of December 31, 2024. Over time, we expect to be able to continue to grow our expected mine life through additional exploratory drilling and improved processing capabilities, which may result in changes to various assumptions underlying our mineral reserve estimate.

Mining activities in the U.S. are heavily regulated, particularly in California. Regulatory changes may make it more challenging for us to access our reserves. In addition, new mineral deposits may be discovered elsewhere, which could make our operations less competitive.

Key Performance Indicators

In evaluating the performance of our Materials segment, we use the key performance indicators (“KPIs”) outlined below. Our calculations of these KPIs may differ from similar measures published by other companies in our industry or in other industries. See the“Materials Segment” section below for further discussion of year-over-year changes in KPIs. Since the Magnetics segment only recently commenced production, we have not established any KPIs for its operations.

REO Production Volume

We measure our REO-equivalent production volume for a given period in MTs, our principal unit of sale for our concentrate product. This measure refers to the REO content contained in the rare earth concentrate we produce and, beginning in the second quarter of 2023, includes volumes fed into downstream circuits for commissioning and starting up our separations facilities and for producing separated rare earth products, a portion of which is also included in our KPI, NdPr Production Volume. REO Production Volume is a key indicator of the mining and processing capacity and efficiency of our upstream operations.

The rare earth concentrate is a processed, concentrated form of our mined rare earth-bearing ores. While our unit of production and sale is a MT of contained REO, the actual weight of our rare earth concentrate is significantly greater, as the concentrate also contains non-REO minerals, loss-on-ignition, and residual moisture from the production process. We target REO content of greater than 60% per dry MT of concentrate (referred to as “REO grade”). The elemental distribution of REO in our concentrate is relatively consistent over time and production lot. We consider this the natural distribution, as it reflects the distribution of elements contained, on average, in our ore.

REO Sales Volume

Our REO Sales Volume for a given period is calculated in MTs. A unit, or MT, is considered sold once we recognize revenue on its sale as determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). Our REO Sales Volume is a key measure of our ability to convert our concentrate production into revenue. Our REO Sales Volume includes both traditional concentrate as well as roasted concentrate. Given our cessation of shipments of concentrate as discussed in the“Recent Developments” section above, we do not expect historical REO Sales Volume to be representative of future volumes.

Realized Price per REO MT

We calculate the Realized Price per REO MT for a given period as the quotient of: (i) our rare earth concentrate sales, which are determined in accordance with GAAP, for a given period and (ii) our REO Sales Volume for the same period. Realized Price per REO MT is an important measure of the market price of our concentrate product.

NdPr Production Volume

We measure our NdPr Production Volume for a given period in MTs, our principal unit of sale for our NdPr separated products. NdPr Production Volume refers to the volume of finished and packaged NdPr oxide produced at Mountain Pass for a given period. NdPr Production Volume is a key indicator of the separating and finishing capacity and efficiency of our midstream operations.

NdPr Sales Volume

Our NdPr Sales Volume for a given period is calculated in MTs and on an NdPr oxide-equivalent basis (as further discussed below). A unit, or MT, is considered sold once the Materials segment recognizes revenue on its sale, whether sold as NdPr oxide or NdPr metal, as determined in accordance with GAAP. For these NdPr metal sales, the MTs sold and included in NdPr Sales Volume are calculated based on the volume of NdPr oxide used to produce such NdPr metal. We utilize an assumed material conversion ratio of 1.20, such that a sale of 100 MTs of NdPr metal would be included in this KPI as 120 MTs of NdPr oxide-equivalent. NdPr Sales Volume is a key measure of our ability to convert our production of separated NdPr products into revenue. In the future, NdPr Sales Volume for the Materials segment is expected to include sales made to the Magnetics segment.

For the Materials segment, we have a mix of contracts with customers where we sell NdPr as (i) oxide, (ii) metal, where the amount of oxide required to produce such metal is variable, and (iii) metal, where we have a guarantee of the amount produced and sold based on the amount of oxide consumed. Among other factors, differences between quarterly NdPr Production Volume and NdPr Sales Volume may be caused by the time required for the conversion of NdPr oxide to NdPr metal, including time in-transit, as well as differences in actual versus assumed yields of oxide to metal in the calculation of NdPr Sales Volume.

NdPr Realized Price per KG

We calculate the NdPr Realized Price per kilogram (“KG”) for a given period as the quotient of: (i) our Materials segment NdPr oxide and metal sales, which are determined in accordance with GAAP, for a given period and (ii) our NdPr Sales Volume for the same period. NdPr Realized Price per KG is an important measure of the market price of our NdPr products. In the future, NdPr Realized Price per KG for the Materials segment is expected to include sales made to the Magnetics segment.