What Are The Critical Raw Materials (CRMs)?
Critical Raw Materials (CRMs), also known as Critical Resource Materials, are raw materials that are economically and strategically important, but that also have a high risk of supply disruption. CRMs are essential for renewable energy technologies, electronics, defense applications, and emerging technologies like electric vehicles and semiconductors.
The specific list of CRMs varies by country and region based on economic needs and supply vulnerabilities. The US and EU Critical Materials lists include many similarities, with some variations based on domestic supply chains and strategic priorities. Key differences between the US and the EU Critical Materials lists include:
- EU-specific materials: Boron, Coking coal, Phosphate rock, Phosphorus, Silicon metal, Strontium
- US-specific materials: Aluminum (bauxite), Cesium, Chromium, Potash, Rhenium, Rubidium, Tellurium, Tin, Zinc
What Are The Critical Raw Materials (CRMs)?
Combining the EU and US Critical Raw Materials lists yields the following CRM list:
- Aluminum (bauxite) – Find the history of aluminum here.
- Antimony – Find the history of antimony here.
- Arsenic – Find the history of arsenic here.
- Barite – Find the history of barite here.
- Beryllium – Find the history of beryllium here.
- Bismuth – Find the history of bismuth here.
- Boron – Find the history of boron here.
- Cesium – Find the history of cesium here.
- Chromium – Find the history of chromium here.
- Cobalt – Find the history of cobalt here.
- Coking Coal – Find the history of coal here.
- Fluorspar – Find the history of fluorspar here.
- Gallium – Find the history of gallium here.
- Germanium – Find the history of germanium here.
- Graphite (natural) – Find the history of graphite here.
- Hafnium – Find the history of hafnium here.
- Helium – Find the history of helium here.
- Indium – Find the history of indium here.
- Lithium – Find the history of lithium here.
- Magnesium – Find the history of magnesium here.
- Manganese – Find the history of manganese here.
- Niobium – Find the history of niobium here.
- Phosphate Rock – Find the history of phosphate rock here.
- Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) – Find the history of all six PGMs here.
- Potash – Find the history of potash here.
- Rare Earth Elements (REEs) – Find the history of all 17 REEs here.
- Heavy rare earth elements (HREEs)
- Dysprosium – Find the history of dysprosium here.
- Erbium – Find the history of erbium here.
- Holmium – Find the history of holmium here.
- Lutetium – Find the history of lutetium here.
- Terbium – Find the history of terbium here.
- Thulium – Find the history of thulium here.
- Ytterbium – Find the history of ytterbium here.
- Yttrium – Find the history of yttrium here.
- Light rare earth elements (LREEs)
- Cerium – Find the history of cerium here.
- Europium – Find the history of europium here.
- Gadolinium – Find the history of gadolinium here.
- Lanthanum – Find the history of lanthanum here.
- Neodymium – Find the history of neodymium here.
- Praseodymium – Find the history of praseodymium here.
- Samarium – Find the history of samarium here.
- Scandium – Find the history of scandium here.
- Heavy rare earth elements (HREEs)
- Rhenium – Find a history of rhenium here.
- Rubidium – Find the history of rubidium here.
- Silicon – Find a history of silicon here.
- Strontium – Find the history of strontium here.
- Tantalum – Find the history of tantalum here.
- Tellurium – Find the history of tellurium here.
- Tin – Find the history of tin here.
- Titanium – Find the history of titanium here.
- Tungsten – Find the history of tungsten here.
- Vanadium – Find the history of vanadium here.
- Zinc – Find the history of zinc here.
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Appendix
2025-2035 Materials – Energy Supply Chain Criticality Matrix
A matrix chart for the medium term showing different minerals, assigned as “critical,” “near critical,” and “not critical” classes. The X axis shows supply risk, from low to high, and the Y axis shows importance to energy, from low to high. Source.
