China mainly processes seven of the Netherlands' eight key materials

CBS ranked all materials on the EU's official critical list by their importance to the Dutch economy, supply risk and expected demand growth. Of the eight with the highest combined score, seven are mainly processed in China before they reach the Netherlands: gallium, rare earth metals, germanium, graphite, lithium, cobalt and silicon metal.

The materials are crucial for the semiconductor industry, defence and the energy transition, and imports of them are geopolitically vulnerable, CBS says. In 2025 the Netherlands imported €17.2bn of critical materials, and €123.9bn of products containing critical materials from outside the EU. Almost a third of the value of imports from outside the EU contains critical materials.

China dominates processing of seven of the eight most critical materials

% of global processing in China, 2025

China dominates processing of seven of the eight most critical materials (% of global processing in China, 2025). Highest: Gallium, 99; lowest: Niobium, 0.5; 8 items. Source: CBS, IEA.

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Data: China dominates processing of seven of the eight most critical materials

Item	% of global processing in China, 2025
Gallium	99
Graphite	94
Rare earth metals	84
Silicon metal	79
Cobalt	76
Germanium	74
Lithium	74
Niobium	0.5

Only for niobium does China play almost no role. There the Netherlands depends on Brazil instead.

Why gallium tops the list

CBS gives gallium three reasons for its top score. China controls almost all world production and uses the metal as a geopolitical lever through strict export restrictions. Gallium is the basis for the microchips and high-tech products of major Dutch companies. And demand is growing explosively, because AI, electric cars and faster networks need chips that are more powerful and more energy-efficient than today's silicon chips.