By Teti Igoumenidi

Metlen's flagship investment in the production of gallium at the historic aluminium plant in Greece has been officially recognised as a strategic project by the European Commission, under the Critical Raw Materials Regulation (CRMA).

The European Commission has approved a list of 47 strategic projects aimed at strengthening domestic strategic raw materials capabilities. These are located in 13 member states, including Greece.

The projects aim to strengthen the European raw materials value chain and diversify sources of supply. The development marks an important milestone in the implementation of the CRMA, which seeks to ensure that the extraction, processing and recycling of strategic raw materials in Europe will cover 10%, 40% and 25% of EU demand by 2030, respectively.

Following an extensive technical assessment by independent experts, the European Council on Critical Raw Materials, composed of the 27 member states and the European Parliament, recommended to the Commission that Metlen’s project be classified as of strategic omportance for the Union.

“A milestone for European metallurgy and Greek mining activity”

As stated in the announcement, “this decision, ratified on March 25, 2025, is a milestone for European metallurgy and Greek mining activity, as it is the only project that decisively strengthens Europe’s strategic autonomy in bauxite, alumina (and aluminum) and gallium, all recognized as ‘critical raw materials’.”

In total, out of the 170 projects submitted across Europe, 47 projects from 13 EU member states were approved.

According to the company, “the inclusion of Metlen’s vertically integrated bauxite mining, alumina plant expansion and 50 MT Gallium production project in the list of selected strategic CRMA projects confirms the importance of these critical materials for the resilience of the supply chain in Europe. At the same time, it paves the way for faster licensing procedures, access to European financing and enhanced support from the EU.”

“With the recognition of Metlen’s investment as strategic importance, the way is opened for the implementation, after decades, of a new bauxite mining activity, an increase in alumina production which has been severely hit in Europe and – of course – the full substitution of gallium imports, ensuring the production of catalytic equipment and technology for the energy and digital transition and defense,” the company pointed out.

Metlen establishes defense hub in Volos

Metlen is expanding the Volos industrial complex and establishing an important defense hub in Greece.

Specifically, METLEN signed a preliminary agreement to purchase a 19-stremmas property within the 1st Industrial Zone of Volos with factory facilities of 5,000 m2 and is already planning to purchase another adjacent property covering 8 acres.

This area borders and constitutes a single area with a plot of approximately 32 stremmas that the company acquired in 2023, within which it is already constructing a modern factory unit for the production of highly specialized metal structures for defense applications.

Armored vehicles

It will focus on the manufacturing of armored vehicles, as well as components, equipment and special constructions for armored military vehicles, with advanced welding and assembly technology, as developed by METLEN over the last thirty years.

In its full development, it will consist of the Nea Ionia Volos factory, Service Steel in the 1st Industrial Zone of Volos, as well as three more complexes, including the current acquisition (a total of 5 independent factories, which will be able to work on 5 different programs, all within a perimeter of the 1st Industrial Zone of Volos, except for the historic factory in N. Ionia, which is in continuous operation).

This emblematic factory, founded in 1963, has evolved into a specialized production unit, with 100% of its production destined to exports to date.

More on METLEN’s intensification of the defense sector will be presented at Capital Markets Day, at the London Stock Exchange on April 28, 2025.