View: Source Copper prices have once again reached a new all-time high on the London Metal Exchange (LME) amid fears of a shortage of this metal. Copper futures on the LME rose by 1.8 percent on Friday, reaching $11,650 per ton. In earlier trading, prices had climbed to $11,662 per ton, which is a new record. Copper stocks in warehouses monitored …
Continue ReadingView: Source Image Credit: Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, right, presides over the inaugural meeting of the national resource security council in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap The government on Friday launched an interagency resource security council to beef up the country’s response capabilities against supply chain disruptions and stabilize management of critical resources, the industry ministry said. The council was established to bolster …
Continue ReadingView: Source Britain has no plans to match the United States in supporting domestic rare earth companies with a price floor to cut reliance on dominant producer China, Industry Minister Chris McDonald said. So far Britain is attracting adequate investment in the critical minerals sector to develop home-grown supply, but it will monitor the situation in case other mechanisms are needed, he told …
Continue ReadingView: Source Copper consumption in the United States and India is set to emerge from China’s shadow over the next decade as demand growth in the world’s largest consumer of the industrial metal slows. Beijing’s industrial and infrastructure expansion has helped fuel a rally that has seen copper prices rise to above $10,000 a metric ton from $1,500 25 years ago. …
Continue ReadingView: Source This is the first such indication from Beijing that it is taking concrete measures to reach a key promised outcome from a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in October. Chinese officials confirmed on Thursday that the country had begun issuing some licences for exports of rare earths critical to global tech supply chains, in the …
Continue ReadingView: Source Soaring copper orders from South Korea and Taiwan led to the biggest rise in requests for withdrawals from London Metal Exchange warehouses since 2013, pushing copper prices to a new record high on Wednesday. The price of copper increased by another 2.4% on the London Metal Exchange (LME) early on Wednesday, to exceed $11,400 per ton, which beat the previous record …
Continue ReadingView: Source Explore the efforts of the US government in critical mineral stockpiling and the challenges involved in securing these vital materials. Key takeaways: The US government has ramped up its efforts to stockpile critical materials for its national stockpile, but has faced challenges in doing so Many requests by the DLA have been extended or cancelled, demonstrating the challenges of …
Continue ReadingView: Source Europe will on Wednesday unveil a plan to reduce its reliance on China for rare earths and other critical minerals, opening a fresh front in its effort to secure supplies needed for major industries. The initiative, known as RESourceEU, is meant to give the bloc more control over materials that support sectors from energy to defence. The plan, to …
Continue ReadingView: Source Global trade in late 2025 is increasingly defined by the geopolitical weaponization of Critical Minerals (CMs), moving these essential resources from mere commodities to strategic national security assets. The extreme concentration of mining and, crucially, refining capacity for CMs like lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements in a handful of nations has created acute supply chain vulnerabilities for the rest of the world. The Trade-Off: …
Continue ReadingView: Source Three auto suppliers have received “general licences” designed to ease demand pressure by allowing more exports under year-long permits for customers. China has issued an initial batch of new streamlined rare earth licences, which a source says should speed up exports to certain customers. The move could fulfil a key outcome of the summit in late October between Presidents Donald Trump …
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