한-호주 공급망 협력 방향: 핵심광물과 수소를 중심으로(Korea-Australia Supply Chain Cooperation: Focus on Critical Minerals and Hydrogen)

한국과 호주는 핵심광물과 수소 분야의 상호보완적 경쟁력을 바탕으로 양국간 협력 필요성이 증대되고 있다. 본 보고서에서는 호주의 핵심광물 및 수소 분야 정책과 대외협력 현황을 분석하였다. 이를 바탕으로 한국과 호주의 핵심광물 및 수소 분야의 공급망 협력 방안을 도출하였다. The U.S.-China rivalry and COVID-19 have increased the supply chain's vulnerability and reshaped the global value chain. The weaponization of resources, such as Russia's natural gas export restrictions in response to the war in Ukraine, demonstrates that the government must take urgent measures to stabilize the supply chain. Korea relies entirely on critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earths from other countries because these minerals are essential for the electric vehicle and secondary battery industry. Moreover, Korea will increasingly rely on hydrogen imports to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Korea and Australia signed a memorandum of understanding on December 2021 for cooperation in the area of critical mineral supply chains, carbon-neutral technology and a clean hydrogen economy. Australia is the world's largest producer of lithium and contains large deposits of other critical minerals such as nickel, of which it has the largest reserves in the world. Australia has a favorable geographical environment for producing hydrogen. Australia also has the advantage of being relatively close to Korea, and is one of the countries expected to become a major hydrogen-exporting country. From Australia’s point of view, Korea offers a stable demand for critical minerals and hydrogen. Therefore, bilateral cooperation to stabilize the supply chain is expected to increase. Accordingly, this study analyzes Australia’s policy on critical minerals and hydrogen, and the current status of international cooperation. Based on this, effective measures to strengthen the supply chain cooperation between Korea and Australia are derived. The Australian government announced its critical minerals strategy in 2019 and 2022. This critical minerals strategy and modern manufacturing initiative were launched to boost the weak indigenous manufacturing sector. The Australian government is also aiming to boost the capacity of downstream industries by leveraging its strengths in the mining sector of critical minerals. This policy is also found in Western Australia’s Future Battery Industry Strategy and Critical Minerals and High-tech Metal Strategy announced by the state government. In addition, the Australian Government has announced the National Hydrogen Strategy in 2019 under the vision of becoming a leading country in the global hydrogen industry by 2030.(the rest omitted)