The European Union plans to launch the European Industrial Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA) in mid-to-late September 2020 to establish a complete EU raw material supply chain and promote the EU's digitalization and green transformation.
EU officials said that the alliance will be composed of more than 200 car battery manufacturers, governments and research organizations. It will focus on rare earth and other metal raw materials, reshape the supply chain of up to 30 key raw materials, and improve raw materials from mining to waste recycling. Ability.
In order to reflect changes in the supply chain demand, the EU also revised the list of key raw materials. Helium in the original list was deleted, four metals including lithium, aluminum, strontium, and titanium were added, and the list of key raw materials was increased to 30.
European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said on September 3, “We cannot convert our dependence on fossil fuels into dependence on key raw materials. The new crown epidemic has disrupted our strategic supply chain and made the problem more prominent.” The EU will pay attention first. Rare earth and magnet raw materials, which play a key role in renewable energy, national defense, and space, build supply chain flexibility and open up strategic autonomy, and then expand to other raw materials.
Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Markets, stated that many raw materials are essential for Europe to lead green and digital transformation and maintain its industrial status. The European Commission published the draft "European Climate Law" in March, promising to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. The bill is conducive to the realization of global climate goals and can promote the development of green industries.
Thierry Breton said in a statement that the EU cannot completely rely on third countries, the supply needs to be more diversified, and the EU must develop its own rare earth extraction, processing, recycling, refining and separation capabilities. The European Union predicts that from now to 2050, the demand for metallic lithium will increase by 60 times, and the demand for cobalt will increase by more than 15 times. These two materials are mainly used in the production of batteries for electric vehicles. In addition, the EU's demand for rare earths will increase by more than 10 times.
The European industry welcomes this move. Peter Carlsson, CEO of Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt, said that he and his colleagues are very concerned about the stable supply of key raw materials. Raw materials and components can be said to be part of the battery ecosystem. He said that now it still needs to rely on many suppliers outside Europe, and Europe needs to continue to strengthen its supply chain self-sufficiency.
Eurometaux, the European metal industry organization, also expressed that it expects ERMA to resolve regulatory and financing bottlenecks as soon as possible and mobilize new investment in the production of metal raw materials. President Mikael Staffas pointed out that while China and other countries have substantially increased the production of raw materials, Europe has been behind for many years. To change this situation, a major EU policy change and joint industry actions are required.
