U.S. rare earth company boosts revenue and output, but rising production costs weigh on the bottom line.
MP Materials released its financial results on Thursday for the quarter ended March 31 (PDF). The company, which specializes in rare earth mining in the United States, reported revenue of $60.8 million, an increase of 25 percent compared to the same period last year. It also announced a record production of 563 tons of the magnet material neodymium-praseodymium, up 36 percent from the previous quarter. Sales of this key product more than doubled year-over-year, reaching 464 tons.
In addition to these positive results, including the first revenues from its newly established magnetics division, MP also posted a net loss of $22.6 million. The main factors were higher interest expenses and increased production costs, partly due to the underutilization of its refining facilities.
These are the first quarterly results since the Las Vegas-based company announced in April that it would suspend exports to China due to sharply increased tariffs (we reported). This move cuts off an important source of revenue, although the financial impact is expected to show up in the current quarter’s results.
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