Critical raw materials

These are the materials included on the European Commission's official list of critical raw materials. The list identifies 34 individual critical raw materials including two (copper and nickel) that are considered strategic, although not critical. Previous analyses only included bauxite as a critical raw material, but aluminium is now also included (later added to the official list). This explains why imports of unprocessed raw materials are much higher in this analysis.

In specifying CRMs, the underlying criteria are that the material is of significant economic importance and that there is a potential supply risk. The list is updated by the European Commission every three years. In addition, there are strategic materials. These are considered essential for technological applications and the EU’s ambitions around the energy transition and digitalisation, but also for defence and space technology applications.

This is the complete list of the critical and strategic raw materials: antimony, arsenic, barite, bauxite/aluminium, beryllium, bismuth, boron/borate, cobalt, coking coal, copper, feldspar, fluorspar, phosphate rock, gallium, germanium, hafnium, helium, lithium, magnesium, manganese, natural graphite, nickel, niobium, PGM, phosphate rock, phosphorus, rare earth elements (light and heavy), scandium, silicon metal, strontium, tantalum, titanium metal, tungsten and vanadium.

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