Trend Surging demand for critical raw materials amid geopolitical rivalry

Summary

The report finds that technological developments around AI and the energy transition are rapidly increasing demand for critical raw materials and strategic materials such as rare earth metals. Global demand for these materials for the digital and energy transitions is growing explosively, while geopolitical rivalry makes supply increasingly insecure. As a result, tensions over supply and geopolitics are rising. For the Netherlands, an open economy deeply embedded in global value chains, dependence on imports of these strategic goods is a direct risk. The report explains that companies are being forced to shift their focus from pure cost efficiency and just-in-time delivery to security of supply and holding strategic stocks, which structurally raises costs.