General Motors yields to unusual earth magnets with two U.S. pacts

Under two separate agreements announced on Thursday, General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) wants to acquire rare earth magnets for its future electric vehicles from new U.S.-based manufacturing facilities, reviving an industry the manufacturer had all but abandoned in the 1990s.

The agreements with MP Materials Inc. and Vacuumschmelze, a privately held company, are the next step in GM’s effort to source EV materials domestically for its Ultium platform, which it expects to complete by 2025.

Financial terms were not disclosed by GM. On Thursday, shares of MP, which went public last year through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), were up 6.5 percent. The stock of General Motors declined 1%.

The Biden administration is pressuring manufacturers to invest and create EV supply chain jobs in the United States, reducing reliance on China, by offering tax advantages and other incentives.

In July, GM signed a supply agreement with a California lithium project, and in October, it announced that it will collaborate with General Electric (NYSE:GE) Co to explore the supply chains for automobiles and renewable energy equipment.

“The more we can recover natural resources for batteries and EVs from North America, process them here and manufacture them … the more value we can create,” Shilpan Amin, GM vice president of global purchasing and supply chain, said on a call with investors.

“Our strategy is to control our own destiny.”

Story by : Norvisi Mawunyegah