Hosokawa Alpine

Hosokawa Alpine AG is a German powder- and particle-processing equipment manufacturer headquartered in Augsburg, Germany, founded in 1898 and part of the Japan-based Hosokawa Micron Group. The company designs grinding, air-classification and milling systems used across minerals, chemicals, food and advanced materials, employing around 840 people. In the rare-earth supply chain, Hosokawa Alpine provides critical equipment for producing high-performance sintered neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets, notably its AFG-R fluidised-bed counter-jet mill, which grinds magnet-grade rare-earth powders to ultra-fine particle sizes below 3-5 microns. Because fine neodymium powder is pyrophoric, its systems are engineered to be gas-tight and run under inert nitrogen or argon atmospheres. Operating a dedicated test center in Augsburg for customer trials, Hosokawa Alpine functions as a midstream technology and equipment supplier enabling magnet makers worldwide to process rare-earth materials for electric-vehicle motors, wind turbines and electronics.