USA Rare Earth breaks ground on $1.2B South Carolina facility

BLACKSBURG, S.C. - USA Rare Earth, Inc. has officially begun construction on a rare earth metal and magnet manufacturing facility in the city of Blacksburg, South Carolina. The project is valued at around $1.2 billion. Situated on a 124-acre property in the Bailey Industrial Park of Cherokee County, the facility will encompass 800,000 square feet of space.

According to a press release, the site aims to generate approximately 490 manufacturing positions. USA Rare Earth anticipates commencing operations by the year 2028. Upon completion, the new plant will be capable of producing 6,400 metric tons annually of sintered neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets, and an additional 5,000 metric tons per year of strip-cast metal and alloy.

These magnets find applications in various sectors, including defense, aerospace, semiconductors, energy, and more. The company chose Blacksburg after a thorough evaluation of nearly 275 possible locations nationwide. The chosen site benefits from the advanced manufacturing infrastructure and labor force available in South Carolina's Upstate region.

The corporation has also pledged $250,000 to Spartanburg Community College to aid in the establishment of a new SPARK Center in Cherokee County. This center will offer workforce development and business assistance. The Blacksburg facility will augment USA Rare Earth's existing magnet production operation located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where the company recently launched its first commercial production line.

The combined output of both facilities is projected to amount to 10,000 metric tons per annum of domestic neodymium-iron-boron magnet manufacturing. The construction of the facility is being overseen by Clark Construction Group and Frampton Construction, functioning as a joint venture, with Trammell Crow Company as the developer.

McMillan Pazdan Smith is responsible for the project's architectural design. The United States currently heavily depends on foreign sources for rare earth metals and permanent magnets, with China controlling a significant portion of the global supply chain.