HRE-Free NdFeB: How Dysprosium-Free Grades Avoid License Delays

Since April 4, 2025, buying magnets from China has become a logistics exercise. Under Announcement No. 18 issued by China’s Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs, neodymium magnets that contain terbium (Tb) or dysprosium (Dy) require an export license for every shipment — and in our direct experience through 2025 and 2026, that license takes about four months to obtain.

But there is a category of NdFeB magnets that sits entirely outside this system: magnets made without any added dysprosium or terbium. These “HRE-free” (heavy-rare-earth-free) grades are not controlled items, ship on standard production lead times, and are technically viable for a large share of everyday applications — including many that currently use heavy-rare-earth grades out of habit rather than necessity.

This article explains which grades qualify, what you give up engineering-wise when you drop dysprosium, who should switch and who shouldn’t, and how to run the evaluation with your supplier.

(For the full export-control framework, see our companion guide: China’s Export Controls on NdFeB Magnets: What Announcement No. 18 Means for Buyers. You can also download our free Magnet Export Compliance Checklist (PDF).)

What “HRE-Free” Actually Means — Precisely

Announcement No. 18 places seven medium and heavy rare earth elements under export control: samarium (Sm), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), lutetium (Lu), scandium (Sc), and yttrium (Y).

For NdFeB magnets, two of these matter: dysprosium and terbium. The control codes for NdFeB permanent magnet materials (1C904 and 1C905 under China’s dual-use export catalogue) are defined by the presence of terbium or dysprosium in the magnet. A NdFeB magnet that contains neither falls outside these codes — it is not a controlled item, and it does not require an export license.

Three precision points that matter for procurement teams:

• “HRE-free” is a manufacturing claim, not a legal classification. What customs cares about is the actual composition. The enforcement benchmark in recent Chinese customs penalty cases has been around 0.1% Dy/Tb content — but this figure comes from enforcement practice, not from an officially published threshold. The only defensible basis for shipping without a license is a composition test report.
• The same grade can be controlled or not, depending on the manufacturer. Some producers use grain boundary diffusion (GBD) with terbium or dysprosium to boost the performance of grades like SH or even H. A “SH magnet” from one factory may therefore contain Tb and require a license, while the same nominal grade from another factory does not. Never assume by grade alone — ask for the composition.
• Light rare earths are not affected. Neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), and cerium (Ce) — the backbone of all NdFeB magnets — are not on the controlled list. This is why HRE-free NdFeB remains fully exportable while the rest of the industry queues for licenses.

Which NdFeB Grades Are HRE-Free?

As a general rule across the industry, heavy rare earths are added to raise coercivity at elevated temperatures. That is why the temperature grades map onto heavy rare earth usage:

Grade class	Max operating temperature (typical)	Dy/Tb in standard production	Export license needed?
N	80°C	No	No
M	100°C	No	No
H	120°C	No	No
SH	150°C	No*	No*
UH	180°C	Usually yes	Yes (1C904/1C905)
EH	200°C	Yes	Yes (1C904/1C905)
AH	230°C	Yes	Yes (1C904/1C905)

* Manufacturer-dependent. In our standard production process, grades N through SH are produced without any added dysprosium or terbium, and we confirm this with composition testing. Some other manufacturers use Tb-based grain boundary diffusion even at SH level — always verify with the supplier and the test report, not the grade label.

(You can compare the full property curves of these grades in our magnet grade comparison tool, or browse our NdFeB magnet product range.)

Why HRE-Free Grades Avoid the License — and the Paperwork That Still Matters

The logic is straightforward: no dysprosium or terbium means the magnet does not match the legal definition of the controlled items, so no export license application is triggered. Production, customs declaration and shipment all follow the standard, pre-2025 process — measured in weeks, not months.

However, responsible suppliers still document the classification. For every HRE-free shipment, buyers should request:

• A third-party composition test report confirming Dy/Tb content and stating the test method. Our own practice is to run this testing at a customs-affiliated testing center in Ningbo — the laboratory system that Chinese customs itself relies on — so the report carries weight if customs ever raises a question.
• A written control classification statement from the supplier, identifying the product as outside 1C904/1C905 on the basis of the test report.
• Consistent HS classification (reference: 8505.11 for permanent metal magnets) on all shipping documents.

This documentation package costs little and turns “trust me, it’s not controlled” into a verifiable position.

A Reality Check: HRE-Free Does Not Mean Uninspected

Before switching grades, procurement teams need to understand one thing clearly: being outside the licensing system does not mean your shipment sails through customs. If anything, magnet shipments now rank among the most closely screened categories at Chinese ports.

The screening technology has changed. Trade press reporting through 2026 describes Chinese customs procuring handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysers for frontline inspection posts, with the stated purpose of on-site sampling, identification and testing of dual-use items. Such a device identifies rare earth elements in a magnet in about ten seconds, without opening the packaging. Where the screen shows an anomaly, a sample goes to a technical centre for precision analysis (ICP-OES) — a two-stage “quick screen, then verify” chain.

Magnet shipments are flagged automatically. Customs risk systems select shipments for inspection on signals that all point at magnets: sensitive product descriptions (“magnet”, “magnetic assembly”, “magnet steel”), the magnetic field itself detected during machine scanning, mismatch between the declared HS code and the product, and — significantly — the exporter’s own violation history. In practice, exporters of magnetic materials should expect inspection rates well above the average for general cargo.

Release is not a verdict. Chinese customs operates on “fast clearance plus post-clearance audit”, and the Customs Audit Regulations give customs audit authority for three years after release. Of the export-control penalty decisions published in 2025 — an industry compilation counts at least 211 cases — a substantial share were found through post-release audit, meaning the goods had already left China. Enforcement has also reached back over multi-year export histories.

Tolerance is effectively zero, and the usual failure mode is the declaration itself. In penalty cases published in 2026, magnets were found to contain dysprosium at 0.15%, 0.18% and 0.372% — all treated as controlled items. The recurring pattern is not smuggling but careless declaration: describing the goods generically as “ordinary NdFeB”, or listing a dozen non-critical elements while omitting the one that decides the classification. Under Chinese law that is a false declaration — regardless of intent.

What this means for planning your order:

• Build in buffer time. Even a clean, non-controlled shipment can be held for screening. Add several working days to expected clearance, and more in the early months of any new control measure.
• Keep the batch test report with the shipping documents. A CMA/CNAS-accredited composition report tied to the specific production batch and invoice number is what turns a screening stop into an hour of delay instead of a seizure.
• Never accept a vague product description. Declaring a magnet as “hardware parts” or “machine components” is a self-inflicted risk. Specific descriptions cost nothing.
• Do not mix controlled and non-controlled magnets in one declaration. A single Dy-containing item pulls the whole shipment into scrutiny and holds the compliant goods with it.
• Technical documents travel under their own rules. Drawings and process specifications shipped with the goods fall under technology export control in their own right — do not add them to the carton by reflex.
• Magnetic inspection is a separate hurdle. Air and sea carriers apply magnetization rules (UN2807): flux measured at 2.1 m and 4.6 m from the consignment, shielding where limits are exceeded, and fresh testing whenever the packaging changes. This is a transport issue rather than a classification issue, but it delays shipments just the same.

In short: the four-month licensing cycle applies only to Dy/Tb-containing magnets — but compliance documentation and port scrutiny apply to all of them. An HRE-free shipment still needs a test report, an accurate description and a realistic schedule. The grade change removes the license; it does not remove the inspection.

The Engineering Trade-Off: What You Give Up Without Dysprosium

Dysprosium and terbium do one specific job in a NdFeB magnet: they increase coercivity — the magnet’s resistance to demagnetization — particularly at elevated temperatures. Remove them, and you must accept one or more of the following compensations:

1. Lower maximum operating temperature

This is the headline constraint. An HRE-free design tops out around the SH class (≈150°C) in standard production. If your application runs continuously at 180°C or above, HRE-free NdFeB is not currently a realistic option.

2. Larger magnet volume

A grade with lower coercivity needs more material to deliver the same flux under the same demagnetizing fields. In a magnetic circuit with room to grow the magnet, this is often the cheapest fix — you trade a few grams of iron and boron for the elimination of a four-month license and a heavy rare earth premium.

3. Magnetic circuit redesign

Good design recovers much of the lost performance: concentrating flux with pole pieces, reducing leakage, adjusting the load line, or changing the operating point on the demagnetization curve. In many couplings, speakers, sensors and holding applications, an HRE-free grade with a modest circuit tweak matches the original performance.

4. Closer attention to temperature coefficients

HRE-free grades typically show slightly steeper flux loss with temperature. If your device’s worst case is “hot motor, high current, demagnetizing field all at once,” that combined scenario needs explicit review — not just a grade swap on paper.

The honest summary: if your application’s true maximum operating temperature is at or below about 120–150°C with reasonable margin, an HRE-free grade is usually viable. Above that, dysprosium is doing real work and you should plan around the license instead.

Who Should Switch — and Who Shouldn’t

Strong candidates for HRE-free conversion:

• Loudspeakers and micro-speakers (most operate far below 100°C)
• Magnetic couplings and magnetic drive pumps (fluid temperatures permitting)
• Sensors, reed switches, holding and latching magnets
• Magnetic separators, chucks and fixtures at ambient temperatures
• Consumer and industrial BLDC motors where the magnet temperature stays below ~120°C
• Stationary applications with no combined thermal + demagnetizing worst case

Poor candidates — stay with Dy/Tb grades and plan the license:

• Automotive traction motors and other continuous high-temperature rotating machines
• Actuators near engines, brakes or other heat sources
• Downhole, aerospace and defense applications with certified temperature requirements
• Any design whose demagnetization margin at temperature is already thin

For the second group, the right move is not avoidance but planning: start the license process five to six months before the required delivery date, as we describe in the lead-time section of our main export-control guide.

The Price Dimension: What Dysprosium Costs Now

Even before logistics, the raw material economics have shifted dramatically. After the April 2025 controls, dysprosium and terbium prices outside China rose sharply. By May 2026, Argus assessments reported by Reuters put dysprosium oxide at roughly US$1,450/kg and terbium oxide at about US$4,500/kg outside China — several multiples of pre-control levels — and Chinese customs data show exports of these elements running about 50% below the twelve months before the controls.

Two consequences for buyers:

1. Heavy rare earths now carry a real premium in quotations. Magnet manufacturers are reported to be paying up to three times more for Dy and Tb inputs than before the restrictions. A grade that avoids them sidesteps both the cost and the volatility.
2. Availability itself is the risk. Over the twelve months to mid-2026, one of our key European markets — Germany — received effectively zero dysprosium exports from China, and Japan received only a fraction of its previous volumes. For a European buyer, a dysprosium-dependent magnet supply chain is not just more expensive; it is structurally fragile.

An HRE-free magnet is not just a compliance strategy. It is a hedge against a raw material that has become scarce, expensive and politically exposed.

How to Run the Switch: A Four-Step Evaluation

1. Establish the true operating temperature. Not the specification sheet’s ambient rating — the actual peak magnet temperature in the worst credible operating scenario, including self-heating. If you don’t know it, say so; a competent supplier will help you estimate it from the application.
2. Send the drawing and working conditions. Dimensions, coating, magnetization direction, surrounding materials, demagnetizing fields, temperature profile.
3. Request HRE-free samples with a composition test report. Test the report, not just the magnet. Confirm the Dy/Tb content and keep the report with your import file.
4. Validate in application. Check flux at hot condition, demagnetization margin under combined worst cases, and long-term aging. Then lock the grade into your BOM with the test report attached.

How HS Hardwares Handles HRE-Free Production

We manufacture NdFeB magnets in Hangzhou, and our standard production process covers grades N through SH without any added dysprosium or terbium. For these products:

• Composition classification is verified by testing at a customs-affiliated testing center in Ningbo, and the report ships with the goods.
• Products are declared with specific, accurate descriptions — never generic hardware terms — and batch test reports are kept with the shipping documents, so a screening stop is resolved quickly.
• HRE-free orders ship on standard production lead time — no export license, no four-month wait — but we still build clearance buffer into the delivery schedule, because inspection applies to everyone.
• Where a customer’s application genuinely needs UH/EH/AH performance, we tell you plainly, quote with the license timeline built in, and help you plan the ordering calendar around it.

If you want to know whether an HRE-free grade can replace your current magnet, send us your drawing and working temperature — we will confirm within one business day whether it is feasible, and which grade gets you there.

Contact:
Email: info@hshardwares.com  |  Phone/WhatsApp: +86-13666656994
Website: www.hs-hardwares.com

Key Takeaways for Buyers

• NdFeB magnets without dysprosium or terbium are not controlled under China’s Announcement No. 18 and ship without an export license.
• Grade labels are not legal classifications — the composition test report is the deciding document.
• HRE-free is viable for most applications up to roughly 150°C; above that, dysprosium is doing essential work.
• Switching buys you three things at once: no four-month license, no heavy rare earth price premium, and a supply chain that isn’t hostage to Dy/Tb export quotas.
• But plan the shipment properly: magnet cargo is heavily screened at Chinese ports, customs keeps a three-year post-release audit right, and the most common penalty trigger is a careless product description, not smuggling. Keep batch test reports, declare specifically, allow buffer time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are all neodymium magnets subject to China’s export controls?
No. Only NdFeB magnets containing terbium or dysprosium fall under the controlled items (1C904/1C905). Magnets made without these elements are not controlled and do not require an export license. Classification should always be confirmed by composition testing rather than assumed from the grade.

What temperature can dysprosium-free NdFeB handle?
In standard production, HRE-free grades cover max operating temperatures from 80°C (N) up to about 150°C (SH). Higher temperature grades (UH, EH, AH) normally require dysprosium or terbium additions. The exact limit depends on the demagnetizing conditions in your application, not the grade alone.

How do I prove my magnets don’t contain dysprosium?
Request a third-party composition test report stating the test method and the measured Dy/Tb content, plus a written control classification statement from your supplier. Our testing is performed at a customs-affiliated center in Ningbo, and reports are provided with the shipment documentation.

Does grain boundary diffusion use dysprosium or terbium?
Often yes. Many manufacturers use Dy or Tb in grain boundary diffusion to raise coercivity efficiently. A magnet produced this way can contain heavy rare earths even at a moderate grade like SH — so ask your supplier specifically whether their process uses GBD and with which elements.

How much money does an HRE-free grade save?
It depends on the application, but it removes two costs at once: the heavy rare earth material premium (dysprosium oxide traded around US$1,450/kg outside China in May 2026, several multiples of pre-control levels) and the time cost of a roughly four-month export licensing cycle. For most low-temperature applications, HRE-free is now the cheaper and faster option overall.

If my magnets don’t need an export license, why was my shipment held for inspection?
Because licensing and inspection are two separate controls. Chinese customs screens magnet shipments for possible Dy/Tb content — including with handheld XRF analysers at the port — and can hold goods for verification regardless of whether a license is required. Customs also retains post-release audit authority for three years. The fastest way to resolve a hold is a batch-level composition test report from an accredited laboratory, together with a specific product description on the declaration.

For the wider picture — how much of Europe’s magnet supply can realistically be localized this decade — see our analysis of Europe’s rare earth magnet strategy.

Sources

• MOFCOM & GACC Announcement No. 18 of 2025 (export control on samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, yttrium items), effective April 4, 2025
• MOFCOM FAQ documents on the scope of rare earth export controls
• China customs enforcement decisions involving Dy/Tb classification of NdFeB shipments (2026), including cases at Dy content of 0.15%, 0.18% and 0.372%
• Argus Media price assessments reported by Reuters, May 2026 (ex-China dysprosium and terbium oxide prices)
• Chinese customs export data for dysprosium, terbium and yttrium, 12 months post-controls
• Industry compilation of published export-control penalty decisions, 2025–2026 (at least 211 cases published in 2025; rare earth magnets the most frequently penalized category in 2026 monthly data)
• Customs Audit Regulations of the PRC (post-release audit authority, three years)
• Trade press reporting on customs deployment of handheld XRF analysers for dual-use item screening at ports, 2026
• UN2807 / IATA rules for magnetized material transport (flux limits at 2.1 m and 4.6 m; shielding and re-testing requirements)

Last updated: September 2026. Export control policy, inspection practice and raw material prices are dynamic — verify the current status before making procurement decisions. This article is a practical procurement aid, not legal advice.