NARVA, Estonia, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- A plant producing rare-earth magnets for Europe's electric vehicle and wind-energy sectors opened Friday in Narva, a city in northeastern Estonia.

The facility, built by Canada's Neo Performance Materials, is designed to produce around 2,000 metric tonnes of magnet blocks a year -- enough for over a million electric vehicles or more than 1,000 offshore wind turbines, according to local media reports. The magnets will be tailored to meet the specifications of Europe's automotive and wind-energy sectors.

Neo CEO Rahim Suleman said the plant was built "at record speed" and has already signed multiple contracts with European car makers.

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal described it as "the most cost-efficient magnet factory ever built in the Western world."