Critical commodities (CRMs) are those commodities that are economically and strategically important to the contemporary economy, but have a high risk associated with their supply.

They are used in environmental technologies, consumer electronics, healthcare, steelmaking, defense, space exploration and aviation, these materials are not only "critical" to key industries and future applications, but also to the sustainable functioning of the economy.

It is important to note that these materials are not classified as "critical" because they are scarce, but for other reasons:

They have significant economic importance to key sectors of the economy, such as consumer electronics, environmental technologies, automotive, aerospace, defense, health, and steel.

They present a high supply risk due to the high dependence on imports and the high level of concentration of critical raw materials in certain countries.

There is a lack of (viable) substitutes because of the unique and reliable properties of these materials for existing and future applications.

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The main producers are the People's Republic of China, the United States, Australia, Brazil, India, Vietnam, Canada and South Africa, with China in a dominant position.