DTEC Plans $600 Million Investment in Malaysian Refinery Over 3 Years
Key Facts
DTEC Mineral and Metal Technology plans to invest $600 million in a rare earth refinery in Malaysia, with the facility expected to be built over the next three years, Bloomberg reported, citing the company’s chief executive. The first refinery is targeting processing capacity of 5,000 metric tons a year, while the company has a longer-term goal of establishing two facilities with combined capacity of 10,000 tons a year. The plan adds a potential project to Kuala Lumpur’s efforts to expand domestic processing, but remains an announced plan and is not evidence that construction has begun or financing has been secured. The announcement follows DTEC’s receipt of a permit to export materials to the United States, putting the policy banning unprocessed ore to a practical test. Malaysia’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry says the country “maintains its policy of banning exports of unprocessed rare earth ores.”
Authorities granted DTEC a permit to export up to 700 metric tons of rare earth carbonate from the state of Perak, according to a Reuters report. The chief executive said the first shipment is expected to be about 30 tons and will be sent for research purposes. The permit reflects relaxed, conditional export rules, while the ministry says the general policy of banning unprocessed ore exports remains in place. The ministry says the ban aims to create domestic value through processing and manufacturing, and that cooperation with the United States and Australia is intended to accelerate technology development and knowledge transfer and attract investment. The research shipment remains separate from the refinery plan and does not establish that the proposed facility has entered the implementation phase.
The trade agreement between Malaysia and the United States adds a constraint on how that policy is applied, stipulating that Malaysia must not prohibit or impose quotas on exports of critical minerals or rare earths to the United States. The ministry says cooperation is conducted in accordance with Malaysian laws and policies, while the permit allows DTEC to export a specified quantity to the U.S. market. This comes amid a government estimate that the country has 16.1 million tons of identified rare earth resources, although a large portion has not been proven commercially viable. The government links its export policy to developing higher-value stages in Malaysia, while the company is seeking to add new refining capacity. Milan Perlly and his partner David Greer together own 51% of DTEC Mineral, while Malaysian company DTEC Engineering and Construction owns the remaining 49%.
DTEC’s plan enters a processing market already operating in Malaysia, led by the Lynas Malaysia facility, which began production in 2012 in the Gebeng area near the port of Kuantan. The plant processes concentrates from Australia’s Mt Weld mine to produce separated rare earth materials. Lynas says its Malaysian plant exports these materials to manufacturing markets in Asia, Europe and the United States, and describes itself as the only significant producer of separated rare earth materials outside China. The plant increased its annual production capacity from 7,200 to 10,800 tons, according to Malaysia’s East Coast Economic Region Development Council, which cited an expansion announced in December 2025. Lynas plans at a later stage to process up to 5,000 tons a year of heavy rare earths, a plan separate from its existing production capacity.
In another project in Pahang state, Lynas Malaysia and South Korea’s JS Link plan to build a neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnet plant in Kuantan. The proposed plant has capacity of 3,000 tons a year, with investment estimated at 600 million ringgit and operations targeted to begin around 2027, according to Malaysia’s East Coast Economic Region Development Council. These figures differ from DTEC’s $600 million plan, and the magnet project targets manufacturing a finished product while DTEC’s plan focuses on refining. Taken together, these projects place processing, separation and magnet manufacturing among Malaysia’s expansion paths in the sector. For DTEC, the announced timeframe for establishing the refinery is the next three years, and the expected research shipment is about 30 tons.