Europe's smelters need long-term price protection, Trafigura CEO says

​European smelters ‌need "life support" ​such as long-term price protection or ‌price floors to keep operating and compete with top-end Chinese plants, Trafigura's CEO ‌Richard Holtum told a conference ‌on Wednesday.

Energy-intensive smelters are critical to processing strategic minor metals such as antimony needed ⁠in ​defence, Holtum ⁠said. The EU and Western allies ⁠are racing to diversify their supply chains ​for such metals and reduce ⁠their over-reliance on China. "I hope the EU ⁠doesn't ​search for perfection and creates perfection in five years time ⁠and the smelting industry has gone," Holtum ⁠told ⁠the EIT Raw Materials Summit in Brussels.