Rare-earth element

Evangelos Mytilineos, head of metals and energy group Metlen, has asked the EU to make certain European companies get access to rare earth metals.

"China continues to restrict exports of metals and rare earths… unfortunately the EU has not specified measures" to do so, despite its legislation on critical primary materials passed in May, Mytilineos said in a LinkedIn post.

Türkiye is ready to cooperate with companies and other countries to help Libya unleash its huge potential in energy, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said.

Libya is important not only for Türkiye but also for global markets, Bayraktar said in a speech he delivered at the Energy and Economy Summit held in Tripoli on the weekend.

Türkiye will become one of the five countries in the world producing rare earth elements when the industrial facility in the province of Eskişehir becomes operational, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said.

The government sees opportunities to exploit domestic deposits of rare earths and critical raw materials after restrictions announced by China on exports of gallium and germanium, which are essential raw materials for the manufacture of semiconductors.

Rare-earth metals are a group of 17 elements that, along with other critical raw materials, are used in the production of a wide range of high-tech products, from smartphones, computers, wind turbines and electric car batteries to defense equipment, lasers, optical fibers and aircraft engines.

Türkiye's recent discovery of rare earth elements will give a major advantage to the country in the near future, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez has said.

"As the name suggests, these elements are rarely found around the world," Dönmez said on Jan. 28 at an event titled "Energy Goals in Century of Türkiye" in Istanbul.

The discovery of potentially millions of tons of valuable "rare earth" elements in sea sludge off Japan has raised hopes that Asia's number-two economy can reduce its dependence on Chinese supply.