Finland wants closer trade with Australia in critical minerals to protect Western democracy
Finland’s ambassador to Australia says the European nation can grow domestic processing and manufacturing as it looks to protect Western democracy with ties to like minded nations.
Finland wants to increase investment and become one of Australia’s key partners in critical minerals and batteries as the European nation eyes closer ties with like-minded nations in order to defend Western democracy.
The country’s new ambassador to Australia, Arto Haapea, says Australia is one of his country’s most trusted trading partners and wants to equip the nation to move up the critical minerals value chain to start onshore processing and manufacturing amid a push by the Albanese government’s flagship Future Made in Australia.
The European Union and Australia this year signed a memorandum of understanding to co-operate on sustainable and strategic minerals, providing further opportunities for Finland to build on its existing base. The two countries are seeking to leverage each other’s strengths, with Finland’s expertise in sustainability and innovation complementing Australia’s mining resources.
Mr Haapea told The Australian the Finnish government is focusing on Australia amid an increase in geopolitical tensions, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine occurring on its doorstep, adding its value proposition was not only its like-mindedness, but also providing access to technology needed for mining and decarbonisation.
“It’s a geopolitical context of the world that we live in right now that is also relevant for the mining sector, critical raw minerals, or critical technology, where we want to make sure that we are working with safe partners in terms of supply chains and overall,” Mr Haapea said.
“There’s also the added value of trying to diversify the supply chains and making sure that we are in sort of safe hands dealing with each other. I don’t think there can be two more like-minded countries in the world than Finland and Australia.”
Mr Haapea said that while Finland was also active in other resource countries such as Canada, Australia was viewed as having an easy operating environment with shared values and trust between the two.
“Australia is reliable and trusted. While there are many countries that are like-minded, when you look at countries that we have strategic trust in, that is a much narrower group,” he said.
“Australia is one of our biggest trading partners and we want to grow this partnership where possible.”
With critical minerals essential for clean-energy technologies, Finland is looking to strengthen the entire mining value chain in Australia, making it more resilient to market volatility and external shocks. Business Finland has funded Finnish companies in sustainability and digitalisation with over $2.3bn since 2022, and $11bn through R&D grants invested to support growth, investment, expertise and RDI.
The funding has been used to broaden Finland’s experience in mining technology to work with Australia to help decarbonise and modernise mining operations through electrification, automation and digital solutions.
This includes using electric vehicles and advanced digital communications in mining operations, technology Finland has developed. The Finnish organisation is also supporting small and medium enterprises, along with start-ups, to enter the Australian market.
Finland has the ambition to move beyond traditional resource extraction and contribute to higher-value manufacturing in Australia through mining efficiency, environmental monitoring, and battery solutions.
Several Finnish companies play active roles within the mining space. Mining technology service provider Okia supplies BHP and Rio Tinto, while sustainable technology provider Metso has extensive operations. Geyser Batteries, a Finnish battery start-up, has signed an offtake agreement with developer Released Energy.
Mr Haapea said Finland had a role to play in the Albanese government’s Future Made in Australia policy, adding Finnish technology would allow Australia to develop its own industries at an affordable price point in quantum computing, artificial intelligence and mining technology.
“The whole value chain needs to be covered with technological expertise. We’ve been developing over the decades from a sustainable angle, which puts us in a place to share our expertise,” he said.
Finland is pursuing an aggressive carbon neutrality target by 2035 compared to Australia’s net-zero target of 2050. Mr Haapea said ambition was key to decarbonising despite Finland having a discussion around whether it was achievable to be carbon neutral by 2035 in the current economic climate.
“It’s not a sort of very good picture at the moment, economic wise, in Europe and Finland, but the ambition is there, it’s in legislation, and the parties in government are fully committed to achieving it,” he said.
“Having that political ambition that is ideally shared by parties across the spectrum creates a common goal, and allows you to work towards it with technology and innovation.”
Business Finland senior adviser Birgit Tegethoff said 80 per cent of the world’s underground mining technology comes out of Finland and its neighbour, Sweden, adding that the country was exporting electric autonomous vehicles that operate in the mines and also critical communications and climate monitoring products that are used.
“The six-year program (is) not a one-off. It’s a strategic engagement with the Australian market. Australia is one of the three focus countries of that program. We’re really here to collaborate in a meaningful way and for the long term with the Australian industry,” she said.
Finland has among the lowest-cost delivered energy in the world, according to Ms Tegethoff. She added that there are a lot of lessons to be learned and a lot of partnerships to be forged to also enable Australia to move beyond the dig-and-ship process to move the value chains and into the processing.
The two nations are already trading partners in critical industries, with Australia shipping around $200m in copper ores and precious metals to Finland, and importing $400m in civil engineering equipment and parts, with a significant proportion going to the mining sector.
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