News: Suppliers
16 January 2025
METLEN investing €295.5m in bauxite, alumina and gallium production in Greece
Multi-national industrial and energy company METLEN Energy & Metals of Athens, Greece – which operates the only vertically integrated bauxite, alumina and primary aluminium production unit in the European Union (EU) with privately owned port facilities – says that the Metallurgy Committee, in a joint session with the Capital Allocation Committee, has made the final investment decision (FID) to proceed with implementing a new €295.5m plan for the production of bauxite, alumina and gallium.
To be implemented in Agios Nikolaos, Viotia (within the historic ‘Aluminium of Greece’ plant), the project should significantly enhance the production capacity while incorporating gallium into industrial production for the first time.
The investment plan aims to achieve a total production capacity of 2 million tonnes of bauxite (annually), 1,265,000 tonnes of alumina (up from 865,000 tonnes currently), and 50 metric tonnes (Mt) of gallium for the first time. All three materials are included in the European Union’s list of critical raw materials (CRMs). The total capital expenditure (CapEx) includes the following investments:
- development of research and new bauxite mining deposits;
- construction of new facilities and procurement of mechanical equipment for gallium production;
- new facilities and equipment for the expansion and modernization of alumina production capacity;
- energy supply infrastructure for the industrial unit;
- port expansion and upgrades;
- other road infrastructure and flood protection projects.
The investment “strengthens Europe’s self-sufficiency in critical raw materials and bolsters Greece’s strategic position on the global landscape. Moreover, it shields the European industry from external dependencies,” says METLEN’s chairman & CEO Evangelos Mytilineos. “We are proving our commitment to innovation, sustainable development and circular economy, while reaffirming METLEN’s role as a leader in the transition toward greener and more resilient industrial production.”
As a by-product of certain qualities of bauxite (including Greek bauxite) during the refining process into alumina, gallium production is almost entirely concentrated in China. However, China’s decision in July 2023 to impose export restrictions on gallium highlighted the West’s vulnerability and the need to diversify supply sources, says METLEN.
The firm adds that the investment enables Europe to completely substitute gallium imports, significantly bolstering its strategic autonomy and minimizing reliance on external suppliers. This autonomy is crucial for reducing dependence on third countries and ensuring the production of critical technologies across various sectors, from energy transition to defence, e.g. integrated circuits used in computing and telecoms, light-emitting diodes (LED) and permanent magnets etc.
The production of these three critical materials — valued at about €1bn — will be exported to European and North American markets.
The investment will also introduce new environmentally friendly technologies, reducing the facility's carbon footprint. In addition, through critical synergies with METLEN's Energy Sector, energy costs will become completely sustainable, says the firm.
METLEN has submitted the project under Greece’s Strategic Investments Law. The investment also meets the criteria of the ‘Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework’ (TCTF), aimed at supporting the economy in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Furthermore, the project recently received the European Commission’s STEP SEAL (‘Sovereignty Seal’), recognizing its significant contribution to the EU’s self-sufficiency in critical raw materials.
Completion of the works and production start-up is scheduled for 2026 for bauxite, with alumina and gallium production beginning gradually from 2027 and full-scale operation by 2028.
