China controls key materials for Dutch chips, defence and energy

The Netherlands is heavily dependent on China for seven of the eight raw materials most critical to its economy, according to new research by national statistics office CBS.

The CBS ranked more than 30 materials on the EU’s official list of critical raw materials by three measures: their economic importance to the Netherlands, the risk of supply disruption and the expected growth in demand.

Gallium was top, followed by rare earth metals, germanium, graphite, lithium, cobalt, niobium and silicon metal.

All of those except niobium are mainly processed in China before they’re sent to the Netherlands, either as materials or part of finished products. China handles at least 74% of global processing for each of the seven. The figure is 99% for gallium, 94% for graphite and 84% for rare earths. For niobium, the Netherlands depends mainly on Brazil.

The materials are vital to the semiconductor industry, defence and the energy transition, the CBS said. Demand is growing because of AI, electric cars, faster networks and new defence systems.

Gallium ranks highest because China controls almost all of the world’s production and uses strict export restrictions as political leverage, the CBS said. The metal is also the basis for microchips and other high-tech products made by large companies.

In 2025, the Netherlands imported €17.2 billion worth of critical raw materials from outside the EU, plus €123.9 billion worth of products that contain them – almost a third of the value of all imports from outside the EU.