The wind energy company wants to further diversify its supply chains.
Spanish wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa plans to shake off its near-total dependence on China, including imports of rare earths, reports Reuters. Board chairman Jochen Eickholt stressed during a tour of the turbine plant in Cuxhaven yesterday that the company wants to act on customer demand and expand its supply chains, even if this could lead to higher prices.
The company mainly needs critical raw materials for the manufacture of wind turbines. Recently, Siemens Gamesa has already taken a step towards diversifying its supply chains by concluding a contract to purchase 200 tonnes of neodymium praseodymium per year for a period of five years with the Australian mining company Arafura Rare Earths (we we talked).
The growing reduction in the dependence of raw materials on China, which currently dominates the market for rare earths, goes hand in hand with the demands at the G7 summit held recently in Japan. Nations that participated in the G7 are working together to diversify supply chains. In the past, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, among other things, also spoke out more and more often in favor of a “derisking” strategy in relations with China.
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