cosors
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The clearest words from an independent body (Timbro Environmental Research Institute, responsible for climate, environmental and energy issues ) in our favour:
"The left-wing government in Kiruna is slowing down Europe's battery industry
Sweden has what it takes to break the European dependence on Chinese graphite for battery production. But instead of allowing that to happen, the S-led government in Kiruna is standing in the way of both Sweden's first graphite mine and Europe's climate transition, says Hanna Stenegren.
October 8 , 2024
The first thing the government did during the Swedish presidency of the EU last year was to invite the Commission to Kiruna. There was discussion about climate, forests, but above all mining. If the government prioritizes the important mining issue, it is important that they put their foot down against the Social Democrats in Kiruna's plans to stop the graphite mine in the municipality.
In the shadow of the crisis for battery manufacturer Northvolt, it has emerged that Chinese companies have completely stopped exporting graphite to Sweden. This could have major consequences, given that graphite is a mineral that is crucial for the production of lithium-ion batteries. At present, Europe is 98 percent dependent on imports for its graphite supply.
China supplies more than 60 percent of the world's natural graphite and almost all of the man-made graphite. This makes the situation worrying for producers who rely on the supply from the east. A halt in deliveries from China disrupts supply chains, raises costs and disrupts production.
As graphite exports to Sweden have decreased, China's total investments in batteries and electric vehicles in Europe have increased sharply.
As graphite exports to Sweden have decreased, China's total investments in batteries and electric vehicles in Europe have increased sharply. In Hungary, China's largest battery manufacturer invested $8 billion in a factory a couple of years ago. It was one of the largest foreign investments ever made in the country. In Poland, smaller but similar factories are being built by Chinese companies. At the same time, graphite exports to the two countries have skyrocketed. Hungary imported graphite worth more than $230 million in 2022, up from just a few thousand dollars five years earlier.
One of the most promising companies in Europe's emerging battery industry has been Northvolt. It is unclear what impact, if any, the halt to Chinese graphite exports has had on Northvolt's situation. But it is believed to have the potential to raise costs at a time when competition for market share is tougher than ever. It may well be that the unofficial Chinese graphite export ban has been designed to stifle innovation in Europe, while at the same time China is building a foothold here. Last year, the Chinese company Putailai announced an investment of $1.3 billion to build Europe's largest factory for the manufacture of anodes in Sundsvall. It is intended to become a main supplier to the Swedish battery industry.
In Sweden, we have deposits of graphite, but no active mining. The company Talga wants to open a graphite mine at Nunasvaara outside Vittangi in Kiruna municipality and is now also building the first plant for graphite anode materials for batteries in Luleå. The ambition is to extract just over 16 per cent of the EU's demand for natural graphite and produce just over 10 per cent of the EU's demand for anode materials made of natural graphite by 2030.
Anodes made from the natural graphite from the bedrock in Vittangi also have a 96 percent lower climate footprint than the Chinese synthetic variant, where in principle coke is boiled with coal power. Swedish mining and production can dramatically reduce carbon emissions from the manufacture of electric vehicles, energy storage systems and consumer electronics.
For once, it is not primarily permit processes that stand in the way .
For once, it is not primarily permit processes that stand in the way of the mine (although the Supreme Court after a year has still not decided on leave to appeal), but it is Kiruna municipality. The government consisting of the Social Democrats, the Left Party, Sámelistu and Feminist Initiative has paused the work of developing a detailed plan for the mine. Despite the fact that the mine has been given the green light by both the Land and Environment Court and the higher instance, the Land and Environment Court of Appeal. But the municipality sees no advantages, only disadvantages, and wants the government to introduce an extraction tax so that the municipality can share in the mine's revenues. However, no such proposal is on the agenda from the government's side. In order to resume work, municipal representatives want to see Talga finance municipal operations or build housing in the municipality.
Talga has rightly grown tired of the municipality's blackmail and turned to the government to order Kiruna to adopt a new zoning plan to enable the mining of graphite. The government must now quickly and with all the desired clarity show that a municipality cannot use its planning monopoly to make unreasonable demands on an individual company, nor to slow down the development of a more sustainable European battery industry. The climate transition is too important for that.
Being completely dependent on China for strategic raw materials risks both delaying and making the climate transition more expensive.
The graphite deposit in Nunasvaara is one of the best in the world, and the mine is an important building block in making Europe less dependent on China. Being completely dependent on China for strategic raw materials risks both delaying and making the climate transition more expensive. The country has a penchant for using trade as a means of power to punish other countries in connection with political disputes. Export bans on battery minerals such as lithium and cobalt have become increasingly common. According to the OECD, China is the biggest culprit when it comes to limiting the supply of materials needed for the transition to renewable energy.
Our dependence on raw materials on China could also reduce our freedom to act forcefully if Xi Jinping were to follow Vladimir Putin's example and act militarily in his neighbourhood. The idea that countries that trade with each other do not wage war with each other does not necessarily apply to authoritarian regimes with megalomania. Europe should have learned that lesson from its Russian gas dependence at the time of Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine. Extracting the strategic metals and minerals we have in Sweden and Europe is an important prerequisite for our continued prosperity and freedom. "
SMEDJAN | Vänsterstyret i Kiruna bromsar Europas batteriindustri
Sverige har vad som krävs för att bryta det europeiska beroendet av kinesisk grafit till batteritillverkning. Tyvärr ställer sig Socialdemokraterna i Kiruna i vägen för Sveriges första grafitgruva, konstaterar Hanna Stenegren.
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Timbro is the leading free market think tank in the Nordic countries. Our mission is to promote and disseminate ideas supporting the principles of free markets, free enterprise, individual liberty and a free society.Timbro is a leading free market think located in Stockholm, Sweden. Our mission is to build opinion in favor of market economy, free entrepreneurship, individual freedom and an open society. Timbro was founded in 1978 by Sture Eskilsson and the Swedish Employers’ Association, a precursor to the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. Since 2003, Timbro is financed by the Swedish Free Enterprise Foundation."
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