The European Commission has updated the 2011 list and added six raw materials.
Borates, chromium, coking coal, magnesite, phosphate rock and silicon are the critical raw materials that the European Commission has included in its updated list. From the list of 2011 tantalum was deleted because of a lower supply risk. The other raw materials on the list are antimony, beryllium, fluorspar, gallium, germanium, graphite, indium, cobalt, magnesium, niobium, platinum group metals, heavy rare earths, light rare earths and tungsten.
The aim of the list is to stimulate the production of critical raw materials in Europe and to encourage the start of new mining and recycling activities. In addition, the list will be used by the Commission to identify priority needs and actions. For example, the Commission can rely on it when negotiating trade agreements, tackling trade distorting measures or promoting research and innovation.
Commodities are considered critical if the high supply risk associated with them is primarily due to the fact that global production is largely concentrated in a few countries. In many cases, the raw material is difficult to replace and its recycling rate is low. When assessing whether a commodity is critical, two main parameters are taken into account: its economic importance and the supply risk. The economic importance is assessed by the extent to which individual substances are used in major EU industries.
The list of critical raw materials is part of the Commission's second progress report on the implementation of the EU's raw materials initiative, launched in 2008.
Source: http: //www.recyclingmagazin.de/rm/news_detail.asp? ID = 19829 & SID = 727956192168100100
