Chapter 1
Assessment of European Demand for Mineral Resources by Material Flow Analyses: The Case of Cobalt
Raphaël Danino-Perraud,
Maïté Legleuher,
Dominique Guyonnet,
Maïté Legleuher
Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières, Orléans, France
Search for more papers by this authorDominique Guyonnet
Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières, Orléans, France
Search for more papers by this author
Raphaël Danino-Perraud,
Maïté Legleuher,
Dominique Guyonnet,
Maïté Legleuher
Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières, Orléans, France
Search for more papers by this authorDominique Guyonnet
Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières, Orléans, France
Search for more papers by this author
Book Author(s):
First published: 02 August 2021
Summary
The growth of technological innovations in recent decades has led to an ever-increasing consumption of elements of the periodic table used for very specific functions. This has led to concerns about the capacity of their producers to meet demand. Rising tensions over raw materials, particularly mineral raw materials in the early 2000s, due to growing consumption and a sometimes constrained geographical location, added to problem of their supply. Studying the cobalt market requires a combination of two complementary methods–analysis of its value chain and analysis of material flows. The chapter discusses the results and limitations of the material flow analysis. The analysis of the results deals with the evolution of flows, stocks, European Union suppliers, and their significance in terms of value. Activities upstream in the value chain are decreasing while downstream activities are increasing, which places the European Union in a situation of dependence both in terms of resources for cobalt and battery technologies.
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