How to use the EU dependency tool

The tool shows where the EU imports the 17 strategic raw materials of Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 from — from ore to metal — and how much the largest supplier of each weighs. The regulation sets a 2030 benchmark: no single third country should supply more than 65% of each strategic material.

Questions it answers:

• For which strategic raw materials does the EU depend on one country above the 65% benchmark?
• Is the dependency in the ore, the chemicals or the metal?
• Who are the alternative suppliers, and how much do they weigh?
• Is the dependency growing or shrinking since 2016?

1. 1PeriodBy default, the latest complete year. You can also choose the current year (provisional), compared with the same months of the year before.
2. 2Raw material (optional)With no choice you see the table of the 17. Choosing one opens that raw material's detail.
3. 3The result updates by itselfChange a selector and the result changes at once — there is no button. The page address keeps your choices: you can bookmark it or share it with your team.
4. 4Export to PDFThe «Export PDF» button, under the selectors, downloads the result on screen as a KEYSTONE. report: your choices, the tables and the reading notes. Every page carries your name and licence id. Included in the Data and Professional plans.

1. 1Extra-EU importsWhat the 27 Member States imported from outside the EU, in euros, adding up every stage of the raw material.
2. 2Largest supplier and its shareThe country that supplies most and its part of the imported value. The orange line marks 65%; above it the bar turns red.
3. 3Top 3The shares of the three largest suppliers added up: it shows whether there are real alternatives.
4. 4ChangeHow much the largest supplier's share moved since the previous period, in percentage points (pp).
5. 5TrendThe largest supplier's share in every year since 2016, with the 65% line.

Click a raw material to open its detail: the key figures, the largest suppliers since 2016, the table by stage (ore, chemicals, metal…) with value, tonnes and the largest supplier of each stage, and the 10 largest suppliers.

A manufacturer wants to know whether its supply of Material A is exposed.

• In the table, Material A has Country P as largest supplier, with 78.4% — above the 65% benchmark. The top 3 make 92.1%: there is little alternative.
• In the detail, the ore stage has another leader, Country S, with 41.0%. The dependency is in the metal: Country P supplies 88.0%.
• Material B stays below the benchmark (Country Q, 54.6%), but the top 3 add up to 81.0%: worth watching.

Always read the detail by stage: a raw material can look diversified in the ore and very dependent in the metal, or the other way round.

• Imports, not consumption. The regulation speaks of EU consumption; here it is measured by what comes in from outside. What the EU produces or recycles does not show.
• Share by value. An expensive stage (metal) weighs more than a cheap one (ore) in the total share.
• Grades. Customs codes do not separate «battery grade» from other grades: the values include them all.
• Current year. The provisional period adds up only the months Eurostat has published, and may be revised.
• Not specified. A small part of the imports has a confidential origin and is shown as such.

Where does the data come from?

From Eurostat (Comext): each Member State's imports, month by month, by Combined Nomenclature code and country of origin, since 2016.

Which codes make up each raw material?

A fixed list of CN codes per raw material and stage (ore, chemicals, metal, magnets). Waste and scrap, finished articles and codes that mix in other materials are left out.

Who can see the figures?

Subscribers to the Data and Professional plans. Without a plan the tool shows the raw materials, but not the suppliers, shares or values.

When is the data updated?

Automatically, whenever new months arrive from Eurostat with the monthly data refresh.