By Eric Onstad LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) - The European Union on Monday launched the critical minerals section of its energy and materials procurement platform, which aims to give more power to
EU Unveils Critical Minerals Procurement Platform for Energy Security
By Eric Onstad
EU Launches Platform to Secure Critical Minerals Supply Chains
LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) - The European Union on Monday launched the critical minerals section of its energy and materials procurement platform, which aims to give more power to regional buyers and cut dependence on dominant producer China by aggregating their purchases.
The platform is part of the bloc's RESourceEU strategy nL8N3X91DV, announced in December to develop its supply chains for rare earths and other strategic minerals needed for the energy transition and defence applications. China controls up to 90% of output in that sector.
Platform Details and Submission Process
Opened for Submissions
The EU's Energy and Raw Materials Platform https://energy-platform.ec.europa.eu/ opened to submissions from buyers on Monday in the first phase of a multi-month process, an EU spokesperson told Reuters.
The platform connects buyers with suppliers, but leaves the two sides to finalise trades.
First Round of Connections
The first round of connections between buyers and sellers will start on April 13, the spokesperson said, and will focus on "immediately and soon-to-be-available rare earths, battery and defence raw materials". The results will be announced in September.
Development and Implementation
Platform Development Partners
Last year, the EU chose https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/eu-picks-pwc-consortium-minerals-energy-platform-eu-source-says-2025-01-22/#:~:text=LONDON%2C%20Jan%2023%20(Reuters),a%20document%20seen%20by%20Reuters PriceWaterhouseCoopers and a Slovak software company to develop its 9 million euro platform, which has separate mechanisms for strategic raw materials, hydrogen, and energy products such as natural gas and biomethane.
Hydrogen Platform Launch
The platform kicked off with hydrogen, which started submissions in November and announced results https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/ener/items/930899/en on April 1, with 273 match-ups.
Strategic Goals and Legislation
REsourceEU Plan and Critical Raw Materials Act
The REsourceEU plan aims to accelerate the bloc's Critical Raw Materials Act, passed in 2023. The EU wants to speed up the development of its own supply chains so as not to rely on any single country for more than 65% of its demand.
2030 Targets for Critical Minerals
Under the CRMA, the bloc has set ambitious 2030 targets for domestic production of critical minerals required for its green transition - 10% of annual needs mined, 25% recycled and 40% processed domestically by the end of the decade.
(Reporting by Eric Onstad; Editing by Jan Harvey)
