Europe's future metals strategy hindered by current crisis

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters): The European Commission has identified 47 strategic projects which it hopes will kick-start the region's critical minerals sector and reduce its dependence on imports, particularly from China.
But even as European policy-makers work to build a future industrial base, they are facing a crisis in the region's existing metals sector.
Chinese over-capacity and high energy prices have accelerated the long-term decline of European steel and aluminium production.
The latest threat, however, is coming from the United States. President Donald Trump's tariffs, particularly the increased tariff on aluminium imports, risk displacing a flood of metal into Europe.
Europe's response is shaping up to be equally protectionist, heralding more fracturing of global trade patterns.
Europe's strategic projects, opens new tab qualify for fast-track progression through the permitting stage - a maximum 27 months for mine projects and 15 months for processing projects - and access to funding both at European and national level.
The list is heavily weighted towards battery inputs such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite but also includes more esoteric elements such as gallium, germanium and tungsten. Fourteen out of 17 metals on the EU's strategic metals list are represented. The projects across 13 member states extend along the whole length of the supply chain from mining to processing to recycling and even materials substitution.
They should allow the EU to fully meet its 2030 domestic production benchmarks for lithium and cobalt and make "substantial progress" for other battery materials such as nickel, manganese and graphite. Wall Street's main indexes ended sharply lower on Friday, with the Dow dropping 1.7 per cent,
In the case of gallium, used in semi-conductors and currently subject to Chinese export restrictions, METLEN's project in Greece, opens new tab will cover the region's needs by 2028.
There is more to come.
The European Commission received 46 applications for projects outside of the EU. A decision on the potential selection of such projects "will be decided at a later stage," it said.
Europe's bold ambitions for new energy metals stand in stark contrast to the dire problems facing its traditional metals production sectors.
EU steel output has declined from 160 million metric tons in 2017 to 126 million in 2023. Current steel capacity utilisation of around 65 per cent is unsustainable, the Commission said.
The region has lost a significant part of its primary aluminium production capacity for good and around half of what remains has been idled since 2021.