On March 25, Australia's Lynas Rare Earths and South Korea's LS Eco Energy signed a framework agreement to build a rare earth metallization facility in Vietnam, with output to feed downstream magnet production in the United States, Nikkei Asia reported the next day. The plant is slated to begin phased operations in the fourth quarter of 2026.

China's dominance over rare earths and its recent export restrictions are accelerating efforts to build alternative supply chains, including a March 10 agreement with Japan to secure preferential access to Lynas output and lock in long-term supplies. A key bottleneck has been metalization capacity (the conversion of oxides into usable metals), making Vietnam an attractive node given existing South Korean industrial infrastructure. Vietnam also offers longer-term potential as a rare earth producer given its largely untapped domestic reserves, estimated at roughly 3.5 million tons.