News item | 12-02-2025 | 10:30 am
Reducing unwanted dependencies and appearing is a spearhead of the cabinet. The security of supply for our industry of critical raw materials and (half) products is essential for our economy and prosperity. A complete insight into the delivery risks and how to respond to this is still missing. The so -called Dutch Materials Observatory (NMO) started today to map and monitor this. The NMO is an initiative of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The EU has a list of 34 critical raw materials of great economic importance such as lithium, iridium and cobalt. If the supply of this stops, the risks are greatest. Of these, 17 raw materials are considered strategically. They are crucial for the energy and digitization transition, for our health, our safety, the defense and space sectors.
In collaboration with knowledge institutions, foreign observatories and the business community, the NMO ensures monitoring of the chains of critical raw materials. The organization also develops analyzes to assess the vulnerability of the value chain per critical raw material. Finally, the NMO has a warning function to companies and government if there are disruptions in raw materials (chains) or already occur.
Minister Dirk Beljaarts (Economic Affairs): “The observatory is going to do relevant work. For example, by finding out where we are too dependent, but also what the alternatives are such as decrease from other countries or reuse. Now our image is still incomplete and we cannot act quickly enough when necessary with delivery risks. ”
The minister continues: “The Netherlands takes its responsibility to tackle European risky dependencies. We ourselves have few critical raw materials in the soil, but can, for example, be a processing link in the refining. After all, we are an important entry and transitland with our ports and hinterland connections. Moreover, by focusing on innovation or circularity of products, we create fewer scarce alternatives and new economic value. ”
Countries from outside Europe dominate significantly world production
Sufficient security of delivery of various critical raw materials, such as lithium, iridium and cobalt, is needed for batteries, windmills, semiconductors, hydrogen production, solar panels, LED lighting, defense applications, but also mobile phones. For some critical raw materials, we are currently dependent on countries from outside Europe that have 90% of world production.
For 2030, therefore, the aim is to win 10% of the annual European consumption of these strategic raw materials in the EU, to refine 40% in the EU and recycle 25% in the EU. In addition, the EU may be dependent on a single country for the supply of a strategic raw material. Within the national raw material strategy, the government focuses on increasing security of supply for the Netherlands by, for example, mapping risky dependencies, looking aimed at possibilities for stock formation and processing in the Netherlands. But also by developing circular use of critical raw materials.
The Geological Service Netherlands – a part of Knowledge Institution TNO – carries out the NMO in collaboration with the business community, sector organizations and researchers commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.