Greece has secured a stronger position on Europe’s critical raw materials map following a landmark agreement by METLEN Energy & Metals, which has signed a long-term contract covering approximately 25% of its planned annual gallium production from a new facility under development in the country. The counterparty is a leading American technology company, and according to METLEN, this marks the first major commercial gallium supply agreement between a European producer and a major U.S. technology firm.
A deal that signals competition with China
Sources from the Ministry of Environment and Energy have described the agreement as the first concrete proof that Europe can develop a credible alternative supply source to counter China’s near-total dominance. While the deal does not overturn existing dependencies, it elevates Greece’s role in the broader effort to diversify and strengthen the supply chain resilience of both European and American industry. Gallium — a metal recovered primarily as a byproduct of bauxite processing — now sits at the heart of the global competition for critical raw materials. The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence, telecommunications, electric mobility, renewable energy, and defense technologies is driving surging demand for advanced semiconductors, even as global gallium production remains almost entirely concentrated in China.
METLEN’s decision to develop integrated gallium production in Greece carries even greater strategic weight today than when the investment was first announced. The long-term agreement the group has signed, covering approximately 25% of its planned annual output to a leading American technology company, represents the first meaningful commercial validation of the project. It also offers Europe the prospect of a production base outside China for a raw material that plays a pivotal role in the digital transition and economic security.
In this light, the agreement goes well beyond a single commercial transaction. It is the first tangible sign that Europe can build a credible alternative source of gallium in the face of China’s near-absolute dominance. METLEN becomes the first company to develop integrated gallium production in Europe and one of the first to translate the ambitions of the Critical Raw Materials Act into real industrial activity.
The deal does not reshape global dynamics on its own. It does, however, demonstrate that building a European alternative supply chain can move from political declarations to actual investments and long-term commercial contracts.
The search for alternatives
Gallium is not classified among rare earth elements, but it does appear on the critical raw materials lists of both the European Union and the United States. Its geographic production concentration is nearly absolute. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, China accounted for 99% of global primary gallium production in 2024. This dependence took on greater geopolitical significance following Beijing’s imposition of export controls in 2023 and their subsequent tightening. China’s licensing system allows it to selectively control supply flows, constraining availability in Western markets and intensifying the urgency of supplier diversification.
In the wake of China’s gallium export restrictions, governments and major technology companies have accelerated their search for more secure and diversified supply chains. Washington, Brussels, and major Asian economies now treat access to critical metals not merely as a matter of industrial competitiveness, but as a question of technological and national security.
Demand, meanwhile, is expected to rise sharply. Gallium compounds are used in high-performance semiconductors, telecommunications equipment, 5G networks, photovoltaic applications, radar systems, and defense platforms. The metal’s relationship with artificial intelligence and electric mobility is primarily indirect but critical: it concerns power electronics, data center power supply systems, converters, and fast-charging infrastructure.
Major price divergences
The scarcity of gallium supply outside China has created a fragmented market, with significant price divergences between Chinese and Western benchmarks. In May 2026, Fastmarkets launched a separate reference price for 99.99% purity gallium delivered to the United States, effectively acknowledging that the American market now operates under fundamentally different conditions than the Chinese one. In June, the upper end of reference prices for gallium available in Rotterdam reached as high as $2,925 per kilogram — considerably above the levels that prevailed when METLEN made its investment decision.
Comparisons, however, require careful interpretation. Gallium does not have a single, fully transparent international price in the way that exchange-traded metals do. Prices vary according to purity, volume, geographic delivery point, delivery timeframe, and product form. Long-term contracts, moreover, do not necessarily follow spot market price movements.
Greece secures a place in the gallium supply chain
METLEN is seeking to leverage its vertically integrated presence across bauxite, alumina, and aluminum by adding gallium to its production chain. The investment forms part of a broader €295.5 million program approved in January 2025, encompassing the expansion of bauxite production to approximately 2 million tonnes per year, an increase in alumina capacity from 865,000 to 1.265 million tonnes, and the creation of a gallium production capacity of 50 tonnes per year.
The new facility is being developed at the Aluminium of Greece plant in Agios Nikolaos, Boeotia. Based on current scheduling, production is expected to begin gradually in 2027, with the target of reaching full capacity of 50 tonnes per year by 2028. That volume, according to METLEN, could cover today’s entire European market demand for gallium — although future demand is expected to increase significantly.
The project is grounded in years of research conducted by R&D teams at the Aluminium of Greece facilities and is now part of the newly established Critical & Rare Metals division of M Metals. The company has already operated a pilot unit, developing technology that covers the full processing chain from Bayer liquor to the production of gallium oxide and a final product of 4N purity — that is, 99.99%.
Access to bauxite from company-owned mines and the integration of the new unit within the existing industrial complex are central to the project’s design. According to company estimates, the technology that has been developed can achieve production costs significantly below competing methods — potentially around half the cost of Chinese production practices.
Production capability is decisive
This remains a corporate estimate that will need to be validated once the facility reaches full industrial-scale operation, but it is a critical factor in the investment’s long-term resilience against any future price decline. The ability to produce at competitive cost is decisive in a market where China can influence not only available supply volumes but also international price levels.
The investment has been recognized by the European Commission as a Strategic Project under the Critical Raw Materials Act. It was among 47 projects across 13 member states selected from a total of 170 applications. In addition, the European Investment Bank has approved €90 million in financing for the bauxite and gallium investments under the REPowerEU framework.
In May 2026, the overall investment plan — valued at approximately €300 million — also received approval from Greece’s Interministerial Committee for Strategic Investments. The project is expected to be supported by grants and tax incentives totaling approximately €118 million.
