Turkey joins western critical minerals club amid EU-China rivalry
Turkey has joined the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) forum to cooperate with the United States, the European Union and others on the production of critical raw materials and rare earth elements, official sources told Middle East Eye.
“The state department can confirm that the government of Türkiye has joined the [MSP] forum”, a US State Department spokesperson told MEE. “There will be a formal announcement in the coming weeks.”
Rare earth elements are used in the manufacture of many high-tech devices, from the screens of smart phones and computers, to the batteries of hybrid and electric cars.
The MSP is a group of 14 countries and the EU that aims to diversify the global secure supply chain of rare earth minerals and other critical minerals.
The MSP forum, launched in 2024, brings together partners and mineral-producing countries, such as Kazakhstan, Namibia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, to push against Chinese dominance in the field.
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In 2022, Turkey said that it discovered the second-largest rare earth element reserve in the world with a 694-million tonne deposit in Eskisehir.
Even though no independent work had been conducted on the mine, the discovery attracted global interest, including from China, which controls more than 70 percent of the rare earth elements trade.
Turkish officials say they eventually aim to produce an annual 10,000 tonnes of rare element oxides, in addition to 72,000 tonnes of barite, 70,000 tonnes of fluorite, and 250 tonnes of thorium, which is crucial for nuclear technology.
Turkey is expected to become a full member of the MSP in the future as well.
Wooed by the European Union
The forum could be a boon for Ankara, as it is likely to shape the West’s future policies on critical raw materials. It also provides opportunities to create and fund individual projects to accelerate the production of rare earth elements from extraction to refining and from processing to recycling.
'Turkey won’t ink a deal with Beijing unless they agree to make the final product in Turkey'
- Turkish source
Ankara is still in the process of establishing its own infrastructure to build factories and refineries, and it has a large need for funds and relevant technology. The MSP Forum will allow Ankara to present its project to western export credit agencies, development finance institutions and the private sector for possible support or investment.
It will also help the Turkish government ask for technical help, as well as benefit from knowledge and technology from consuming countries, in order to create the necessary infrastructure.
However, the move is attention grabbing as Ankara has been negotiating with China to mine the rare earth elements in Turkey for the past two years.
Alparslan Bayraktar, Turkey’s energy minister, is scheduled to visit China in October and is expected to conduct further negotiations to reach a deal.
In an interview with Turkish media earlier this week, Bayraktar also said that he would discuss the issue with China and other countries, keeping the door open for possible partners outside of the MSP.
Turkish sources familiar with the government’s thinking told MEE that Ankara wants China to build infrastructure in Eskisehir, so Turkey can produce the final product from the rare earth elements domestically rather than only extracting the material and exporting them to China for its own use.
The Chinese thinking on the project isn’t clear. However, previously Beijing has aimed to extract minerals in other countries to export home rather than create added value to their local economy.
With this in mind, the European Union stepped up its efforts to attract Ankara by presenting more favourable alternatives.
The MSP Forum is one of the main EU initiatives, but Brussels has also been taking a series of steps to showcase its potential contribution to the Turkish rare earth elements production process.
The EU recently launched two-year-long rare earth elements project in Turkey worth 12m euros ($13.4m) to strengthen the Turkish national rare earth minerals ecosystem, including enhancing Munzur University’s Rare Earth Elements Application and Research Centre, and establishing a recycling facility at the General Directorate Mineral Research Exploration.
The scheme also aims to provide training and consultancy for small and medium-sized businesses and stakeholders in the sector.
'The new oil and gas'
EU Delegation Charge d’Affaires J Vilcinkas described rare earth elements as “the new oil and gas of industrial and energy revolution 4.0 happening around us” at the opening ceremony of a mineral forum in Turkey’s Tunceli in July.
“Turkiye can be at the heart of it. Not only as an emerging extraction/mining powerhouse (where tech and investment is needed), but also as a product developer and innovating nation.”
Vilcinkas added that the world’s green and digital transition won't be complete without rare earth elements, and the Turkish national electric car manufacturer, Togg, and solar panel manufacturers both need them.
The EU is highly dependent on Turkish imports of boron, a mineral used across multiple industries. Turkey has 73 percent of the world reserves of the precious mineral.
“While demand for rare earth metals is expected to increase fivefold by 2030, China will account for 90 percent of rare earths and 60 percent of lithium processing and production,” Vilcinkas said.
Turkish officials stress that they are open to working with European and western countries on the Eskisehir deposit.
“It isn’t a done deal with China, we have conditions,” said one Turkish source familiar with Ankara’s thinking. “Turkey won’t ink a deal with Beijing unless they agree to make the final product in Turkey.”
Earlier this year, China imposed an export restriction on mining technology used for rare earth elements. The source added that it was yet to be seen whether Beijing will make an exception to cooperate with Turkey.
On the other hand, there aren’t many European companies that could quickly start work with Turkey to help it extract the minerals, one European source had to acknowledge.
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