Future infrastructure relies on low-emission steel. At the same time, the demand for critical raw materials is expected to surge, and the growing need for clean energy technologies, electric vehicles, aerospace, defense, and digital devices will further intensify the importance of securing reliable supply chains.
To produce stainless steel, several critical minerals and raw materials are needed. Yet Europe is currently dependent on the external supply of critical raw materials. This creates significant vulnerabilities, especially considering geopolitical factors and supply chain disruptions.
If Europe is to maintain its own steel production and deliver on its climate ambitions, securing these materials must become a policy priority. Failure to act accordingly risks European competitiveness and security.
Stable, predictable regulation for long-term investments
In European stainless steel, the largest raw material is recycled steel. However, additional alloying elements like chromium, nickel, and molybdenum are required at a specific purity and volume.
Europe is currently highly dependent on imports for many of these materials, exposing its industrial base to geopolitical risk and supply instability. Strengthening resilient European value chains therefore requires not just circularity, but also long-term investment in sustainable mining and processing of critical raw materials.
A good example of cooperation in this field is the molybdenum mine project by Greenland Resources where Outokumpu has secured a long-term offtake agreement. This provides us access to low-emission molybdenum in a market where the EU has zero domestic production.
However, commitments like this require confidence.
Mining and processing investments are built over decades, not political cycles. Stable permitting, predictable regulation, and proportionate taxation are therefore essential to attract capital, extend mine lifetimes, and strengthen Europe’s industrial resilience.
Without a stable investment and regulatory environment, Europe risks delaying projects that are critical for both competitiveness and the green transition.
Chromium back on the EU’s critical raw materials list
Chrome is essential to stainless steel – the key ingredient in making it stainless. As such in underpins multiple strategic sectors and industries, including mobility, clean energy, construction, digital, and defense.
Many major economies already classify chrome as strategic, including the US, Canada, Australia, China, India, and Russia. Over 70% of global reserves are concentrated in South Africa and Zimbabwe, and China produces over half of global ferrochrome despite lacking reserves, heightening disruption risk.
The EU has its own chrome supply in Outokumpu’s Kemi mine, recently expanded to secure supply into the 2050s, with stable location, renewable energy access, and reliable operating environment. Including chromium on the critical raw materials’ list supports CRMA targets for domestic extraction, processing, and recycling by 2030.
Recognizing chromium as a critical raw material would directly support the objectives of the Critical Raw Materials Act, strengthening domestic extraction, processing and recycling. If chromium were put back on the EU’s critical raw materials list, it would mean the EU sees its supply as both economically essential and increasingly vulnerable, prompting stronger monitoring and higher policy priority. It would not create automatic quotas or obligations, but it would raise chromium’s visibility in EU industrial and resilience planning.
Future innovations strengthen Europe’s leadership in low-CO2 metals, materials and industries
At the same time, Europe must continue to strengthen its position along the value chain. Outokumpu is scaling proprietary, lower-CO2 processes for enriched ferrochrome and high-purity chromium metal and investing in a pilot plant, strengthening Western supply security – a technology which can potentially expand to other critical minerals like nickel and molybdenum. (Read more in Stefan Erdmann’s thought leadership article.)
Protecting Europe’s access to critical raw materials is not only about safeguarding existing industries – it is also about enabling the next generation of low-emission industrial innovation. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is a strong example of how the EU can support European industry by creating fairer competition and encouraging investment in lower-emission technologies within Europe – though there are still some gaps and loopholes to close to avoid carbon leakage.
Stainless steel is infrastructure-critical and plays a vital role for the industrial future of Europe. Minerals, and thus a responsible mining industry, play a growing role in Europe’s self-sufficiency and green transition, when defining both short-term and long-term opportunities for economic growth.
To succeed, Europe needs a balanced approach: combining circularity with responsible primary production, strengthening domestic value chains, and enabling investment through clear and predictable policy frameworks.
Europe has the resources, technology, and industrial base to lead in low-emission stainless steel. What is needed now is policy alignment to ensure that leadership is not lost.
*1.6 kg CO2e/kg average in 2024 vs. a 7.0 kg global average (Outokumpu LCA; global average based on CRU, worldstainless, Kobolde & Partners)