Ukraine Could Play a Key Role in EU’s Supply of Raw Materials
Ukraine has reserves for two thirds of the 34 raw materials classified as critical. At the same time, production of these critical materials is still very limited, as a new analysis by EconPol Europe shows. “It will take more than mining for Ukraine to be able to become a central partner for the European supply chains in the medium term,” says ifo researcher Isabella Gourevich. “Investments in processing and refining these raw materials would also have to follow – in Ukraine itself or in collaboration with EU countries.”
She says that Ukraine’s raw material reserves are crucial for the energy transition, e-mobility and digital technologies in Europe. Particularly prominent among them are manganese, titanium, graphite, lithium, cobalt, copper and nickel. Some of these mineral resources, for example, form the components for lithium-ion batteries. The author writes that mining is currently focused on just a few materials. In addition, the ongoing fighting in the country made production more difficult. Ukraine’s share of global titanium production has fallen from 7% to just 2% since the start of the war in 2022. The EU already concluded a strategic raw materials partnership with Ukraine in 2021. The aim is to reduce Europe’s dependence on individual, politically unstable supplier countries and to strengthen supply security in the long term. China currently dominates the processing of many of these critical raw materials, with market shares of over 70% in some cases.
