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Slovenia
Kolektor (magnetics)
A privately held Slovenian industrial group whose Kolektor Mobility unit in Idrija makes compression- and injection-molded bonded NdFeB and ferrite magnets, rotor and sensor magnets and motor assemblies; the sintered NdFeB and SmCo magnets it sells come from affiliated companies in China.
Points to check
Facts from the sources on this page that a reader should weigh before relying on the company's own figures.
- The sintered NdFeB and SmCo magnets Kolektor offers come from affiliated companies in China; it does not sinter them itself.
- Its bonded NdFeB magnets use purchased Magnequench MQP-B+ powder, per a May 2026 paper co-written by Kolektor Mobility staff.
- The 250 million magnets per year figure is a count across ferrite and rare earth parts; no NdFeB tonnage is published.
- The 100 percent recycled NdFeB bonded magnet was still in industrial validation in June 2026, and no serial production volume has been announced.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1963 — Founded in 1963 in Idrija as Tovarna kolektorjev Idrija, a commutator maker. Fully Slovene-owned since 2002. Magnetic components since 2003; the Essen bonded-magnet business (Kolektor Magnet Technology) was taken over between 2006 and 2010, and its production moved to Idrija in 2020-2021.
- Headquarters
- Idrija, Slovenia
- Ownership
- Privately held; fully Slovene-owned since 2002 per company history. No shareholder list is published.
- Stage
- Mature. Magnetic components since 2003 and bonded magnets in Essen and, since 2020-2021, in Idrija; the company states 250 million magnets a year across materials.
- Listing
- Private. Privately held Slovenian group; magnets are made by Kolektor Mobility d.o.o. in Idrija.
- Revenue
- EUR 396 million
Reported, 2023.
Source
Capacity
Each date below links to the document the figure came from. A capacity figure with no source is not on this page.
| What | Figure | Status | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magnets produced per year, all materials (ferrite and rare earth, bonded and other), Kolektor magnetics | 250 million magnets per year (company-stated count, not tonnage) | Operating | Oct 2026 |
| Kolektor Mobility turnover and headcount (whole business unit, not magnets only) | EUR 396 million turnover, 3,369 employees, 18 legal entities (2023) | Operating | Dec 2023 |
Narrative
Kolektor began in 1963 as a commutator factory in Idrija, Slovenia, and has been fully Slovene-owned since 2002; in January 2023 the group reported 2022 sales of EUR 1.1 billion and 5,500 employees in more than 30 companies. It started making magnetic components in 2003. Between 2006 and 2010 it took over ECS Essen in Germany, which became Kolektor Magnet Technology GmbH, a maker of injection-molded plastic-bonded magnets; Kolektor also describes that business as emerging from the former Krupp Widia magnet division. A new Essen plant opened in 2013, but magnet production moved from Essen to Idrija in 2020 and 2021, and the former Essen headquarters was sold in early 2022. Magnet making now sits in Kolektor Mobility, headquartered in Idrija, which reported EUR 396 million in turnover and 3,369 employees for 2023. Kolektor says it produces 250 million magnets a year, a count that covers ferrite and rare earth parts, and that it makes NdFeB, hard ferrite and mixed NdFeB-ferrite magnets by compression and injection molding, along with rotor and sensor magnets, stators and assemblies, under ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and IATF 16949. A May 2026 peer-reviewed paper co-written by Kolektor Mobility staff states that the bonded NdFeB magnets it tested were made by Kolektor Mobility in Idrija from Magnequench MQP-B+ powder. Kolektor does not sinter NdFeB or SmCo; Kolektor Beteiligungs GmbH in Fellbach, Germany, offers sintered NdFeB and SmCo magnets from affiliated companies in China, mainly for automotive and industrial uses. Kolektor Mobility is a partner in HARMONY, an EU project on recycling end-of-life NdFeB magnets that runs from January 2024 to December 2026 with an EU contribution of EUR 6.37 million. On June 12, 2026 it received a regional gold innovation award from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia for polymer-bonded magnets made from 100 percent recycled NdFeB powder, and a national silver award followed on September 22, 2026; Copreci of Spain was validating the material in a demonstration motor.
Where public sources disagree
- Origin of the German magnet business: Kolektor's history page says it took over ECS Essen, which became Kolektor Magnet Technology; the Kolektor Beteiligungs page says the business emerged from the former Krupp Widia magnet division. The two may describe successive owners, but neither page links them.
Sources
- Kolektor magnetics (products, 250 million magnets/yr, certifications) — Kolektor (2026-10-19)
- Kolektor Beteiligungs: bonded magnets; sintered NdFeB/SmCo from affiliates in China — Kolektor (2026-10-19)
- Company history (ECS Essen, move to Idrija 2020-2021) — Kolektor (2026-10-19)
- Gold award for 100% recycled NdFeB bonded magnet — Kolektor (2026-06-13)
- Corrosion of injection- and compression-molded NdFeB and SmFeN magnets (Kolektor Mobility, MQP-B+ powder) — Polymers (MDPI) (2026-05-02)
- HARMONY project record — CORDIS, European Commission (2026-10-19)
- Kolektor Mobility 2024 company presentation — Kolektor (2024)
- Kolektor marks 60 years (2022 sales, employees) — Kolektor (2023-01-13)
- Sale of former Kolektor Magnet Technology headquarters, Essen — CMS (2022-02-02)
- Kolektor KFH (Idrija magnetics production) — Kolektor (2026-10-19)
How this page is sourced
Everything here comes from public sources — company filings, annual reports, exchange announcements, government releases and trade press. Every figure is linked to the document it came from and carries the date that document was published, because a capacity number without a date is not a fact, it is a rumor with a decimal point.
What is deliberately absent: material nonpublic information. I have spent more than two decades in this industry and a good deal of what I know about these companies I learned under NDA. Those obligations do not expire and they do not bend for a website. Nothing I have been told in confidence appears here in any form, and nothing on this page — or missing from it — should be read as a signal about what I know privately. I hold NDAs absolutely. It is the reason clients tell me things.
Judgment is the other thing left out on purpose. This page reports what has been published and who published it. Whether a target is credible, whether a ramp will hold, whether a capacity figure survives contact with the plant behind it — that is the work I do for clients, and it does not belong in a free reference page.
Where public sources disagree, I say so rather than picking a winner. Where a figure has not been published, the field says so rather than carrying an estimate. An empty field is information too.
Public filings tell you what a company has said. Whether it holds up is a different question, and the one I get hired to answer.
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