# JS Link joins Turkish ATES Wind for 3,000-ton neodymium magnet project *The South Korean specialist met Turkish ministers in Ankara to build a rare-earth production pipeline using non-Chinese Lynas feedstock for European supply lines.* **Published:** November 5, 2026 **By:** So-yeon Jung **Section:** Energy & Critical Minerals — South Korea **Format:** Why It Matters **Confidence:** high **Source:** https://eastasiabrief.com/energy-minerals/js-link-joins-turkish-ates-wind-3-000-ton-1147 **Publisher:** East Asia Brief (https://eastasiabrief.com/) --- ## What to know - JS Link and ATES Wind Power plan a 1,000 to 3,000-ton NdFeB magnet plant in Türkiye - The plant pairs Turkish manufacturing with Lynas rare-earth feedstock under a contract through 2038 - Site evaluations in western Türkiye conclude before year-end ![An engineer holds blueprints at an industrial construction site while a crane hoists a large metal component. (AI-generated image)](https://eastasiabrief.com/media/2026-11-05-6c83fdc956e2.webp) *An engineer holds blueprints at an industrial construction site while a crane hoists a large metal component. (AI-generated image)* South Korean magnet specialist JS Link announced Nov. 4, 2026, that it held ministerial talks in Ankara to build a rare-earth permanent magnet fabrication pipeline with Turkish wind supplier ATES Wind Power. The proposed facility targets between 1,000 and 3,000 metric tons per year of sintered neodymium-iron-boron magnets. That volume matches the 3,000-ton annual capacity JS Link is constructing in Gebeng, Malaysia. JS Link Chairman Park Jin-soo and ATES Wind Power Chief Executive Mahmut Güldoğan met Turkish Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır on Nov. 4. The talks followed high-level meetings on Nov. 3 with Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar. The bilateral discussions focused on developing processing facilities for critical minerals, the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources said in an official notice. The ministry highlighted long-term links to the Beylikova rare-earth deposit in central Türkiye. Direct-drive wind turbines require roughly two metric tons of neodymium magnets for each gigawatt of generation capacity. The partnership aims to supply localized components directly to European turbine makers, the companies said. China controls over 90% of global sintered neodymium magnet fabrication and enforces export licensing on heavy rare earths. Western turbine builders and electric vehicle assemblers seek non-Chinese processing corridors to mitigate regulatory risks. The Turkish project relies on established international feedstock rather than unrefined local ores, corporate briefings showed. JS Link plans to route refined rare earths from Australian producer Lynas Rare Earths into the Turkish manufacturing line. Lynas holds a 4.58% equity stake in JS Link, acquired through a 53.39 billion won ($35 million) third-party rights issue in July. That investment established an exclusive feedstock supply agreement running through January 2038. Under that agreement, Lynas supplies separated neodymium and praseodymium to JS Link's domestic magnet plant in Yesan, South Korea, alongside the upcoming Gebeng facility. The Turkish plant expands that refining-to-fabrication channel westward. ATES Wind Power manufactures steel towers and precision generator assemblies for wind farms across Europe and the Middle East. Adding localized magnet production enables the Turkish group to deliver generator subassemblies compliant with European clean-energy content thresholds. The ministerial meetings follow a preliminary Memorandum of Understanding that JS Link and ATES Wind Power signed on Oct. 16. That preliminary pact established joint technical working groups to assess industrial site selection and plant engineering budgets. South Korean industrial groups have steadily expanded capital commitments across Turkish energy, automotive and infrastructure sectors. Delegations from Seoul held ministerial sessions alongside presidential summit talks to align clean-technology initiatives with cross-border trade corridors. Sintered neodymium-iron-boron magnets—known as NdFeB magnets—combine neodymium, iron and boron to generate the strongest commercial magnetic field available. They serve as essential inputs in electric vehicle traction motors, industrial robotics and offshore wind turbine generators. Processing raw minerals into sintered magnets requires chemical separation, metal reduction, alloying and specialized vacuum sintering. Non-Chinese supply chains face severe bottlenecks in downstream sintering even when upstream mining output expands in Australia and North America. Establishing fabrication capacity in Türkiye allows JS Link to expand its footprint outside East Asia. The company previously committed capital toward establishing magnet processing lines across South Korea, Malaysia and the United States. Turkish authorities aim to develop downstream processing clusters around the state-owned Beylikova rare-earth complex in Eskişehir. State mining authority Eti Maden operates an experimental pilot refining line at the site to process light rare-earth fluorocarbonate minerals. However, integrating unrefined Turkish minerals into commercial magnet manufacturing remains unproven. Turkish state authorities have not released technical yield rates or commercial purity benchmarks for separated oxides produced at the Beylikova pilot complex. Developing industrial solvent extraction lines capable of producing 99.9% pure neodymium oxide typically requires several years of pilot testing. JS Link's initial manufacturing pipeline in Türkiye therefore bypasses unrefined domestic ore in favor of qualified Lynas feedstock. JS Link has not filed a binding joint-venture contract on South Korea's DART electronic disclosure system. The company's announcements do not state total capital expenditures, project debt allocations or final equity percentages for the Turkish manufacturing facility. The corporate filings also leave unsettled whether JS Link will establish a standalone Turkish subsidiary or an equity-shared legal entity with ATES Wind Power. A binding operational agreement remains subject to board approval and statutory environmental permitting in Ankara. South Korean component suppliers face mounting pressure from global automotive and industrial buyers to present traceable, non-Chinese procurement records. The United States Foreign Entity of Concern guidelines and the European Union Critical Raw Materials Act penalize Chinese-sourced permanent magnets. By placing manufacturing capacity inside the European customs perimeter, JS Link seeks tariff-free logistics for turbine components destined for European Union member states. The strategy replicates the regionalized supply chains that Asian battery manufacturers established across Central Europe. Shares of JS Link trade on the KOSDAQ market under ticker 127120. Lynas's 4.58% equity holding remains under a mandatory one-year disposal restriction that expires in July 2027. Technical working groups from JS Link and ATES Wind Power conclude preliminary site evaluations in western Türkiye before year-end, the company said. ## Impact map | Event | Korea | China | Japan | Global impact | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Turkish NdFeB magnet plant plan | JS Link expands outbound capacity beyond Yesan, bypassing Chinese export licensing | Baotou and domestic refiners face growing non-Chinese magnet supply to Europe | Shin-Etsu and TDK see increased competition in European wind turbine magnet contracts | Wind turbine OEMs gain up to 3,000 tpa of non-Chinese NdFeB magnet capacity | ## In this story - **Companies:** JS Link, ATES Wind Power, Lynas Rare Earths - **Tickers:** 127120.KQ - **Exposed:** Eti Maden - **Impact:** Supply Chain, Capex ## Primary sources 1. fss.or.kr 2. ddaily.co.kr 3. sedaily.com 4. enerji.gov.tr 5. mt.co.kr --- Cite as: East Asia Brief, "JS Link joins Turkish ATES Wind for 3,000-ton neodymium magnet project," November 5, 2026. https://eastasiabrief.com/energy-minerals/js-link-joins-turkish-ates-wind-3-000-ton-1147