Europe resumes magnesium production to reduce dependence on China

After more than a decade of hiatus, Europe is resuming magnesium ore mining in order to stop depending on supplies from China. How reports Financial Times (FT), the first concession to develop a deposit in Romania was received by the Bucharest company Verde Magnesium, which is supported by the American investment company Amerocap.

Verde Magnesium is ready to invest $1 billion in the development of a deposit abandoned in 2014 near the city of Oradea and in the construction of a production complex that will run on renewable energy sources and will process aluminum. This deposit is the last of those where magnesium ore was still being mined by 2014. It is planned that Verde will begin production there in 2027 and will produce 90 thousand tons of raw materials per year. This is half the volume needed by the EU and 9% of global production.

Currently, 87% of the world supply and 95% of the volume of magnesium needed by Europe is provided by China. However, in recent years, supplies from China, where electricity prices have risen sharply in 2021, have been significantly reduced due to reduced production volumes in order to save money. In 2022, the European Commission already spoke about the need to resume its own magnesium production and reduce dependence on Chinese supplies. Then the European Commission indicated that to launch magnesium production by 2025, investments in the amount of €2 billion are required.

Alena Miklashevskaya