Powerful magnets are necessary for an iPhone to vibrate or a Tesla Model 3's motor to spin. If you combine neodymium with iron and boron, you can make a neodymium-iron-boron magnet, which is the most powerful type of permanent magnet ever created. And demand for these magnets is on the rise. But 80 percent of the world's neodymium comes from China.

You may not have heard of neodymium, but you're probably carrying some of it around with you right now. It's in your cellphone, your headphones and you might be driving several pounds of it around in your car.

Neodymium — pronounced "nee-oh-DIM-ee-um" — is one of 17 chemically similar elements called rare earth elements, and demand for this metal is on the rise.

"Neodymium is responsible for most, if not all, of the growth in rare earth demand at the moment," said Roderick Eggert, deputy director of the Critical Materials Institute at Colorado School of Mines.

For an iPhone to vibrate, for AirPods to play music, for wind turbines to generate power and for a Toyota Prius or Tesla Model 3's motor to spin, they need powerful magnets. If you combine neodymium with iron and boron, you can make a neodymium-iron-boron magnet, which is the most powerful type of permanent magnet ever created.

In the case of your cellphone and earbuds, using neodymium magnets means they can be physically tiny but still strong. For motors, using permanent magnets means powerful, efficient motors with fewer electromagnetic components.
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Neodymium Magnets Are In Demand And China Controls The World's Supply | CNBC