Türkiye is emerging as a notable player in efforts to diversify global critical minerals supply chains, backed by its resource base and strategic location, according to a senior official from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
"Türkiye is already an important player in critical minerals," Marion Jansen, the director of the Trade and Agriculture Directorate at OECD, told Anadolu Agency (AA) on the sidelines of the OECD Critical Minerals Forum in Istanbul.
Jansen highlighted Türkiye's strength in borates as a major global supplier and noted that the country also holds significant reserves of rare earth elements (REEs). "So this is one of the countries where more investment could take place."
She noted that Türkiye could play an important role in diversifying critical minerals supply chains and added that its geographic position makes it well placed to facilitate the logistics and transit of critical minerals from different regions.
"Türkiye is situated between Asia, Africa and Europe. This is a fantastic trading hub," she said.
The country established the Rare Earth Elements Research Institute in 2020 to explore the potential of critical minerals and, in 2022, discovered the world's second-largest rare earth element reserve in the central province of Eskişehir, giving further momentum to its development in this area.
Risks drive push for diversification
As Türkiye is part of the OECD's export credit arrangement, it has a role in coordinated international financing efforts. "Türkiye has a voice in this joint collaboration around export credit financing," Jansen said.
She noted that Türkiye is well integrated into global markets and has the potential to expand its role further. "The potential for Türkiye to play an even bigger role definitely exists," she added.
Jansen said rising interest in financing the green transition has brought structural risks in critical minerals markets into sharper focus. "The key aspect is diversification."
As demand for minerals critical to the energy transition, digitalization and defense industries rises, supply remains concentrated among a limited number of countries.
Many critical mineral markets are highly concentrated, with some cases where a single country accounts for up to 90% of global supply, either in extraction or processing.
"This is not good," she said, warning that excessive concentration distorts markets and prevents normal price formation.
She added that high entry barriers limit new participants, while dominant players may restrict access to materials. "So diversification is important," she noted.
Jansen stressed that financing mining and processing projects will be essential to improving supply diversity, pointing to OECD's work in this area, including through export credit mechanisms.
Export restrictions threaten multilateral trade system
Jansen also warned about the increasing use of export restrictions globally.
According to OECD data, export restrictions have increased steadily over the past 15 years, with a notable rise in the most severe measures. The use of such measures increased nearly fivefold between 2009 and 2024 and remains at historically high levels.
"It becomes nearly acceptable to use it and that's not good news for the multilateral trading system at all," she said.
Export prohibitions are "used more and more frequently, and this is the third piece of bad news for the trading system of critical raw materials," she explained.
Investment faces long-term uncertainty
Investment in critical minerals remains challenging due to long project timelines and market uncertainty, Jansen said.
"Investing in this sector is a long-term project ... the money has to be invested for the long run," she said.
She noted that investors seek clarity on returns and price conditions, but risks are higher in concentrated markets.
"If market conditions are not competitive ... the risk that prices will be volatile is real," she said.
Jansen added that addressing these challenges will be key to unlocking more investment in the sector.