Supply Chains of NdFeB Magnets: A Conceptual Framework for Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, Technology, and ESG

Neodymium–Iron–Boron (NdFeB) magnets are crucial to the energy transition, serving as foundational components in wind turbines, electric vehicles, and aerospace systems. However, their supply chains are highly susceptible to disruption, characterised by significant concentration in China, market volatility, technological challenges, and increasing environmental and social risks. This paper presents a proposition-based conceptual framework that integrates four interrelated dimensions of NdFeB supply chains: geopolitics, geoeconomics, technology, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. Instead of examining these dimensions in isolation, the framework illustrates how their interdependencies create and exacerbate systemic vulnerabilities while also influencing pathways toward resilience. Through a structured qualitative synthesis of academic, policy, and scholarly literature, the analysis identifies recurring mechanisms through which vulnerabilities propagate across domains. It elucidates how geopolitical concentration influences geoeconomic volatility, how technological pathways are shaped by political and financial constraints, and how ESG challenges contribute to supply chain fragility. The paper further examines emerging governance responses-from industrial policy and strategic alliances to recycling and substitution strategies-highlighting persistent trade-offs between security, sustainability, and legitimacy. By reframing NdFeB supply chains as a system-level phenomenon, the paper advances critical minerals scholarship by linking politics, markets, technology, and ESG within a single analytical framework, and provides a foundation for more integrated policy approaches to supply chain resilience in the energy transition.