In the production of non-metallic, mineral raw materials, for which Baden-Württemberg is in third place in the nationwide comparison with 90 million t/a (State Office for Geology, Raw Materials and Mining, Raw Materials Report 2012/2013), self-sufficiency is almost guaranteed. In terms of metallic and mineral raw materials as well as fossil organic raw materials Germany and Baden-Württemberg in particular dependents on imports. .

Due to this dependence, the German government, in cooperation with the Federation of German Industries, has entered into strategic, bilateral commodity partnerships and commodity agreements with certain resource-rich countries in the past. The central goals of these partnerships are not only the exploration and development of further deposits, but also the support of the partner countries with regard to an improved infrastructure with the use of modern technologies. Additionally, environmental and social standards are to be ensured and the efficiency of the value chain expanded (BDI, 2018). To date, the German government has aligned on resource agreements with Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Peru, and furthermore, established cooperation in form of memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chile, Australia and Canada (BMWi, 2020).

Within the framework of this think tank project, the German strategy for securing raw materials will be compared with the raw materials strategies of other countries. The advantages and disadvantages of the corresponding strategic methods will be examined with the aim of making recommendations for a strategy development for Germany and Baden-Württemberg. Furthermore, possible options for long-term supply security and price development will be transferred to Baden-Württemberg. For this purpose, challenges of the local industry (e.g. which raw materials are considered critical, which raw material information should be additionally available for the companies) are going to be considered and compiled strategic approaches are going to be examined with regard to the results.