Page 51 - UKRRptAug21

Rolled steel rose by 6.6%, to 9.6mn tons. Last year, production of these three categories was up by 1-2%.
European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič has been in Ukraine in the middle of July and signed off on a string of deals to secure strategic raw materials that are needed to implement the EU’s Green Deal. Ukraine is home to the largest deposits of lithium in Europe, a key ingredient for making batteries and Šefčovič invited Kyiv ot join the EU industrial alliance to develop an entire value chain of the extraction, refining and recycling of minerals to produce electric cars and digital equipment. “We decided that we should open a new chapter in our strategic relationship and this is a closer cooperation in raw materials, green and digital technologies,” Šefčovič told on July 12 as cited by Euroactiv. The deal will secure hard to find inputs for European industry, but will also give the Ukrainian economy a shot in the arm as it will bring in badly needed investment and create many jobs. Currently China dominates the rare metals trade accounting for up to 80% of the world’s supply. The amounts needed are relatively small, but rare earth and other more esoteric metals like Lithium are essential inputs into electronics production. Europe is currently heavily dependent on China for 98% of these materials. The EU’s list of critical raw materials was last updated in September last year, and includes 30 materials, including rare earths, Bauxite, lithium, and titanium.
51 UKRAINE Country Report August 2021 www.intellinews.com