China controls key materials for Dutch chips, defence and energy

The Netherlands relies heavily on China for seven critical raw materials essential to its economy, according to research by the national statistics office CBS. These materials, ranked by economic importance, supply disruption risk, and growing demand, include gallium, rare earth metals, germanium, graphite, lithium, cobalt, niobium, and silicon metal.

China processes at least 74% of the global supply for six of these seven materials and handles 99% of gallium, 94% of graphite, and 84% of rare earths. The exception is niobium, which the Netherlands mainly obtains from Brazil. These raw materials are crucial for the semiconductor industry, defence, and the energy transition, with demand surging due to artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, faster networks, and new defence systems.

The CBS highlights China's control over most production and strict export restrictions as a political tool. Gallium's high ranking is due to China's near-monopoly on its production and China's limitations on exports. In 2025, the Netherlands imported €17.2 billion worth of critical raw materials from outside the EU, and nearly €124 billion worth of products containing these materials – nearly a third of all imports from outside the EU.