Silicon production in Italy and other European countries is nearing its end. None of the EU's factories are now operational, and unless immediate protection measures are implemented from Brussels, Europe risks being completely reliant on third countries for crucial and strategic materials. Silicon, which is extracted from quartz, is employed in the production of semiconductor, steel, aluminum, batteries, photoelectric cells, silicones, and medical devices. Its availability is crucial even for the defense industry. Global overcapacity and the invasion of Chinese silicon at prices far below European production costs—€1,500 per ton versus €2,000-2,500 from the best European producers—have brought European producers to their knees, halving their market share from 30% in 2019 to less than 15%, a share that is expected to fall further with the widespread shutdown of production at least until the end of the year. According to Marco Levi, CEO of Ferroglobe, one of the sector's top groupings and a Nasdaq-listed company, recent years have seen a tremendous development in production capacity in countries such as China, India, Malaysia and Kazakhstan. "However", Levi continues, "the problem is that we are not competing on an equal basis. In Europe, for instance, we are subject to significantly lower levels of public funding and are subject to restrictions on coal use and emissions reductions that are not present in other regions".