Western Australia has opened a new market for its critical minerals, signing a joint communiqué with Italy’s export credit agency to build trade in battery materials and the energy transition.
The deal pairs WA with Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero S.p.A. (SACE), the agency that backs Italian firms trading and investing overseas. It sets out plans for WA and Italian businesses to work together on critical raw materials supply chains, projects and commercial deals.
“Western Australia is helping power the global energy transition through our world-leading critical minerals sector,” WA Mines, Petroleum and Exploration Minister Daniel Pastorelli said.
Trade between Italy and WA was worth more than $900 million in the most recent financial year, and there is room for that to grow as Europe looks for supply outside China, which handles more than 90 per cent of the world’s rare earths processing.
SACE chairman Guglielmo Picchi signed alongside WA’s Agent General, Rebecca Tomkinson, at Invest and Trade Western Australia’s Beyond the Pitch breakfast, an event run to link firms from the two economies.
“As a trusted and reliable investment destination, WA is well placed to build stronger international partnerships that support secure and resilient supply chains,” Pastorelli said.
The Italian deal follows a run of similar agreements aimed at signing up buyers for the state’s lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earths. In May, six Western Australian and Australian projects were named in an Australia–Japan declaration backed by A$1.67 billion in combined government funding, while the federal government put $45 million into Sicona Battery Technologies to lift battery anode production at Port Kembla in New South Wales.
“The Government looks forward to working more closely with Italy to unlock new opportunities in critical minerals and battery industries.”