R&D on supply chain stability items, 17.6 billion in 2023 → 73.9 billion in 2024
Promoting a project to support diversification of import sources, including finding alternative import sources and conducting on-site inspections
Core mineral reserve budget: 37.2 billion won in 2023 → 233.1 billion won in 2024

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) will significantly expand the budget for research and development (R&D) on supply chain stabilization items and key mineral stockpiling, and will also actively pursue a project to support small and medium-sized enterprises in finding import sources.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 11th that following the announcement of the ‘Industrial Supply Chain 3050 Strategy’ on December 13th, it will pursue a supply chain stabilization project starting in 2024.

First, R&D on supply chain stability items will be significantly expanded from KRW 17.6 billion in 2023 to KRW 73.9 billion in 2024, and new technology development for 29 items, including secondary battery materials and core electrical and electronic components, will be supported through an R&D track dedicated to supply chain stability items.

In addition, through the 'Supply Chain Complete Cooperation Model (3 tasks, KRW 6 billion by 2024)', we will support demand and supply companies to jointly develop two or more supply chain stability items linked in the value chain, and we plan to give preferential support to supply chain stability items in the mass production performance evaluation (100 companies in 2023 → 150 companies in 2024) that supports commercialization of R&D results.

Small and medium-sized enterprisesWe are also promoting the 'Import Source Diversification Support Project' to support the entire cycle of finding alternative import sources, from ▲finding alternative import sources and on-site inspections, ▲sample imports and performance tests, and ▲introducing alternative products.

In 2023, a pilot project was conducted for four items, including germanium, lithium hydroxide, and molybdenum, and in 2024, support will be provided for finding alternative import sources for 10 items (460 million in 2023 → 780 million in 2024) based on corporate demand.

The Korea Trade Insurance Corporation will also expand the limit on import insurance for raw materials (including supply chain stabilization items) from KRW 5 billion to KRW 10 billion.

In addition, we will promote stabilization of the mineral supply chain by expanding the budget for reserves of key minerals from KRW 37.2 billion in 2023 to KRW 233.1 billion in 2024.

We plan to significantly increase the stockpile of essential core minerals for cutting-edge industries, such as lithium (from 5.8 days in 2023 to 30 days in 2024) and rare earth elements for permanent magnets for electric vehicles (from 6 months in 2023 to 1 year and 6 months in 2024), and we will also begin construction of a new dedicated stockpile base to prepare for the expanding stockpile.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to continuously expand support projects to stabilize the supply chains of our companies, including publishing in-depth supply chain analysis and response strategy reports on key supply chain stabilization items.