Producer
Vacuumschmelze (VAC)
German specialty magnetic materials producer; one of two major non-Asian NdFeB producers at scale. Revenue ~€600M (2024). Operates Hanau plant and Póvoa de Varzim (Portugal) facility. Supplies European automotive (BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen) and wind turbine (Siemens Gamesa, Enercon) applications. VAC is strategically important to EU rare earth independence plans; received EU funding for European magnet supply chain. Private; owned by private equity (Advent International).
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Goods downstream
2
Facilities
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2 facilities
VACUUMSCHMELZE Hanau Magnetic Materials Plant →
DEHanau, Hesse · manufacturing
Primary VAC magnet production facility. Produces specialty NdFeB and amorphous/nanocrystalline magnetic alloys. EU-certified supply for German automotive (BMW, Mercedes, VW). Critical for EU rare earth independence strategy; receives EU Critical Raw Materials Act funding. Relatively small scale vs. Chinese producers but strategically irreplaceable for European regulatory-compliant supply.
Vacuumschmelze Hanau Germany Magnet Plant →
DEHanau, Germany · manufacturing
Major European NdFeB and SmCo magnet manufacturer; acquired by TDK in 2023; produces both sintered and bonded NdFeB; supplies European EV and industrial automation markets
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NdFeB Permanent Magnets
35%Samarium Cobalt (SmCo) Magnets
20%Soft Magnetic Materials
25%Inductive Components & Systems
20%
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Did you know2023
VAC produces NdFeB permanent magnets for European electric vehicles (BMW i-series, Mercedes EQ, Volkswagen ID) AND samarium cobalt (SmCo) magnets for aerospace, defense, and high-temperature applications from the same Hanau, Germany facility. SmCo magnets use cobalt (not boron) to stabilize the rare earth structure, making them operable at temperatures up to 350°C where NdFeB would demagnetize. European defense aircraft actuators, missile guidance fins, radar antenna drives, and medical MRI gradient amplifiers all require SmCo. The same German magnet plant that enables European EV independence from Chinese magnets also supplies the precision magnets for NATO military systems. When China imposed export controls on rare earths in April 2025 (affecting both neodymium and samarium), VAC's military and EV production simultaneously faced the same upstream constraint -- the only European producer at scale faced supply restrictions across both its civilian energy transition and defense supply chains at the same time.
Vacuumschmelze GmbH & Co. KG ↗Origin2023
Vacuumschmelze (VAC) was founded in 1923 in Hanau, Germany as a subsidiary of W.C. Heraeus GmbH -- the precious metals and specialty materials company founded in 1851. Heraeus needed vacuum-melted specialty metals for laboratory instruments and industrial applications, and spun off the vacuum melting operation as a separate entity. VAC spent decades developing expertise in specialty magnetic alloys -- materials that required ultra-pure vacuum melting to achieve precise magnetic properties. This expertise, built over 100 years of specialty metallurgy, is the reason VAC is one of only two non-Asian companies capable of producing NdFeB magnets at scale with the quality standards required by European automotive and wind turbine manufacturers. The Heraeus heritage also explains why VAC produces samarium cobalt magnets: Heraeus was a major cobalt and precious metals processor, giving VAC access to exotic alloy expertise its Chinese competitors initially lacked.
Vacuumschmelze GmbH & Co. KG ↗