The Magnet Weapon: Can India And Australia De-Risk EV Supply Chains Before The Next Shock? – Analysis

In the geopolitics of the energy transition, leverage is increasingly exercised not through oil embargoes but through industrial choke points. One of the most consequential choke points is also one of the least visible: the rare-earth permanent magnet. High-performance sintered NdFeB magnets sit inside EV traction motors, wind turbines, precision robotics, industrial automation, and a widening set of defence applications. When magnets do not ship, production lines slow—regardless of how many minerals exist in the ground.