Stein announces $1B rare earth magnet plant in Johnston County ...Middle East

This facility located in Benson, North Carolina, pictured on Nov. 18, 2025, is set to produce 10,000 metric tonnes of rare earth magnets annually. (Photo: Brandon Kingdollar/NC Newsline)

The small town of Benson, North Carolina is about to become home to the largest magnet factory in the world outside of China.

Gov. Josh Stein announced Tuesday that North Carolina-based defense contractor Vulcan Elements will open a nearly $1 billion rare earth magnet plant in Benson, bringing 1,000 jobs to Johnston County. The plant is projected to grow the state’s economy by $2.6 billion over the next 12 years.

The facility will produce advanced neodymium iron boron magnets used in everything from smartphones to AI data centers to military drones. It’s the latest round in the manufacturing race between the U.S. and China, as the American government seeks to rebuild a defense industry that can compete on even footing.

According to Vulcan Elements CEO John Maslin, China produces 94 to 98% of the world’s supply of rare earth magnets, while the U.S. manufactures less than 1%. That imbalance, he said, could be “weaponized to impair national security.”

“A semiconductor is like your brain, a battery is like your heart, and a rare earth magnet is like your spine. It literally converts electricity into motion,” said Maslin, a U.S. Navy veteran who previously worked on the nuclear submarine and aircraft carrier program. “This is about enabling national security, this is about increasing economic resilience, this is about creating good-paying American jobs right here and now.”

The facility is certain to transform Benson, with enough workers to make up about a quarter of the town’s current population. Its projected average salary of about $81,900 is roughly one-and-a-half times the average in Johnston County.

And the plant will bring major infrastructure changes with it, with about $250,000 in anticipated funding for road improvements from the General Assembly. The project will require the state to move nearly $6 million into its industrial development fund for utility upgrades.

Benson Mayor Max Raynor quipped that his town of a little over 4,000 could help make the Research Triangle into the “Research Trapezoid.”

“Yes, Benson, North Carolina, a place known for Mule Days, a gospel singing convention, and now, global magnet supremacy,” he said. “This project brings a thousand good-paying jobs and a thousand families who can stay, grow and thrive right here.”

The company’s first facility launched in the Research Triangle Park in March. Stein pointed out that North Carolina was “one of Vulcan’s first investors,” awarding them the state’s One Small Business Program grant when they had less than 20 employees.

“This veteran-owned company will enable North Carolina to keep leading the way on national security as well as building the economy of the future,” he said.

The federal government agreed to back Vulcan Elements’ expansion plans earlier this month through a $620 million direct loan from the U.S. Department of Defense and $50 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce through the CHIPS and Science Act, according to a Nov. 3 press release from the company. Vulcan is relying on an additional $550 million in private capital, and the state agreed Tuesday to issue up to $17.5 million in job grants over the next 12 years.

As part of the federal agreement, the U.S. will have a direct stake in the company, with the U.S. Defense Department receiving warrants — or the right to purchase stocks in the future at a pre-agreed price — in Vulcan and partner ReElement Technologies. The U.S. Commerce Department is also receiving $50 million in equity in Vulcan.

Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), who helped broker the company’s partnership with the federal government, said those are non-voting shares, meaning the U.S. will not be able to directly influence company decisionmaking. He said he was confident the Trump administration would fulfill its grant promises despite uncertainty over the future of the CHIPS Act.

“This is about fully decoupling from China,” Budd said in an interview. “All the way down to the chips in the phone that you’re using, everything seems to use rare earth, so we have to build our own supply chain.”

Stein said after the event that he has concerns over the federal government’s stake in the company. “We didn’t demand equity,” he noted of the state’s efforts to secure the facility.

“We are definitely in unprecedented territory in terms of how the federal government is considering its investors,” Stein said. “I am comforted by the fact it’s not voting stock, but I do worry that it might distort the government’s policy going forward.

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