Copper and Co. - Bavaria is looking for treasures in the garbage
Because raw materials such as copper are becoming increasingly valuable, Bavaria's Minister of Economic Affairs Martin Zeil sends out geologists. Experts, however, demand a higher recycling rate.
They are in cell phones, computers, batteries or fluorescent tubes as well as in wind turbines and electric cars. Rare earth is the raw material that is indispensable for the industry. This applies in particular to Bavaria, where the industry depends on the supply of such so-called geogenic raw materials.
Not only rare earths, but also gold, copper, platinum or industrial minerals, all substances that have naturally developed in the earth, are increasingly in demand worldwide.
That's why the prices are picking up again. As the Association of the Bavarian Economy (vbw) has calculated, the commodity price index is significantly above the previous year's level. It maps the price development of 42 metals and minerals, which are important for the economy.
Tin and iron ore in particular are currently in demand. vbw General Manager Bertram Brossardt: “Bavaria depends on affordable raw materials. We have to have long-term strategies for securing the availability of raw materials. "
White lime on the Franconian Alb, quartz gravel in Lower Bavaria
The situation seems so urgent that Minister of Economic Affairs Martin Zeil (FDP) is now looking for high-tech natural resources in their own country. Geologists are to scour historical waste heaps and previously unused rock deposits in the Free State for resources.
On the list of sought-after substances are special white limestones, silicon-rich, high-purity quartz and rare earths. White limestones that are important for the paper industry have already been detected on the Franconian Alb. In Lower Bavaria, geologists are targeting quartz gravel deposits that the silicon industry needs.
“Bavaria is one of the few countries in Germany that is investing in local raw material exploration,” says the minister. The ministry is making EUR 250.000 a year available for this exploration. With this, Zeil wants to "explore the potential to secure Bavaria's raw material supply".
Rare earths are now among the most valuable raw materials in the world. Since a reduction could be expected, which was previously unprofitable. But it's also about independence, because 97 percent of the rare earths come from China.
China wants to export down
The term rare earths is misleading. They are neither earth, nor especially rare substances. It is about 17 metals, geologically mass-produced, but can be reduced only costly.
Because China has so far taken care of neither environmental nor occupational safety, the country was able to reduce the incidents unrivaled cheap and offer on the world market. In the past, the People's Republic has repeatedly reduced export quotas. Also in the coming half-year the export is to be reduced.
Trade barriers and supply bottlenecks were mentioned. Reason enough for the EU to take action. It is estimated that minerals amounting to XNUM billion billion are stored in the soil of the Member States. Bundling forces to promote mineral resources is now the motto. For the necessary technologies, Brussels is providing 100 millions of euros annually from 2014.
For raw material security companies pull together
Actually, the procurement of raw materials is the original task of the companies. The vbw has therefore commissioned the Cologne Institute for Economics, IW, with a study on the raw material situation in Bavaria. In the summer, the experts presented the results.
Accordingly, the affordable securing of the raw material base will continue to be a challenge for companies in the future. The main risks for their business are the chemical industry, the metal and electrical industry and the transport sector. As a strategy against bottlenecks in the supply of raw materials, the experts also recommend that they join forces to form networks.
This is exactly what some German industrial groups have already done. Under the umbrella of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), automobile manufacturers such as BMW and corporations such as Wacker Chemie have founded an “Alliance for Securing Raw Materials”.
"The alliance is working on building a powerful company that will improve Germany's raw material security over the long term," explains BDI Vice President Ulrich Grillo. This company should participate in raw material projects. This also includes exploration and evaluation of deposits.
Horst Wildemann, Head of the Research Institute for Corporate Management, Logistics and Production, recommends a different approach. He relies on resource efficiency. "The careful and sustainable handling of vital raw materials will become more and more important in the future," says Wildemann. “It has nothing to do with the fact that companies paint themselves green. That is simply an economic necessity. "
A language that companies understand. And where there are risks, there are also opportunities. According to the IW study, just under 27 percent of German companies see economic opportunities in the shortage of raw materials. Manufacturers of efficiency technologies and suppliers of alternative substances and substitutes can smell morning air.
"Those who manage with fewer raw materials will have huge growth impulses"
Wildemann, who also teaches business administration as a professor at the Technical University of Munich, sees opportunities for the economy in the intelligent management of resources. Even if no increase in profits could be achieved with a resource-oriented corporate culture, according to Wildemann, this is the future.
“This is automatic: lower consumption of raw materials lowers production costs and reduces dependency on suppliers. The technologies required for this generate new business fields, and acceptance in society opens up new scope for pricing. "
In Wildemann's eyes, raw materials are “enablers” to produce something. He is certain: "Anyone who is the first to come up with new ideas for getting by with fewer raw materials will have huge growth impulses."
In addition to saving, it is also about recycling. However, this applies to raw materials such as rare earths as extremely complicated and expensive. Wildemann replies: “You just have to invest in research and development. The recycling of cars now works almost perfectly. Why shouldn't that be possible with cell phones? "
Replace copper with aluminum - a challenge
While Wildemann discusses resource efficiency with the leaders of the Bavarian economy at the Munich Management Colloquium next week, some small and medium-sized enterprises are already trading.
Like Epcos in Munich, a manufacturer of electronic components for automotive, industrial and consumer electronics. The company favors miniaturization. "We have reduced our components many times over in the last few years, and that with the same performance," says Gerd Schulz, head of the environmental department at Epcos. The company is thus reducing the use of raw materials such as copper, aluminum, gold, lithium and niobium.
The Mühldorf-based company ODU is trying to replace expensive copper with less expensive aluminum in their connector systems. A technological challenge, because aluminum reacts differently than copper.
Experts such as Monika Nörr, IHK innovation expert for Munich and Upper Bavaria, see considerable potential for the Bavarian economy in this. "Many medium-sized companies are already offering innovative technologies and are thus securing a market advantage."
Nevertheless: "For the foreseeable future, modern society will be even more dependent on the extraction of many raw materials from primary sources," explains Hartwig Frimmel, from the Department of Geodynamics and Geomaterial Research at the University of Würzburg, referring to the growing world population and the material needs of the Emerging markets.
So the lure call of the rare earths in Bavaria will probably occupy the geologists for a while.
Source: World online
