Lithium carbonate prices have surged from their 2025 low of around 75,000 yuan per ton to top 180,000 yuan in the first quarter of 2026 — a gain of more than 100%. A lithium price slump that lasted more than two years is finally over. Yet the thaw isn’t triggering a universal rally across the industry; instead, it’s creating an …
Continue ReadingGallium is a soft, silvery metal that producers recover almost entirely as a byproduct of aluminum and zinc processing. It has emerged as one of the most geopolitically contested commodities of the decade. Gallium-based semiconductors power 5G networks, military radar systems, and satellite communications. China produces 99 percent of the world’s primary gallium. The United States stopped domestic production almost four decades …
Continue ReadingKorea and China have reaffirmed the need to work together to ensure stable supply chains for critical minerals, rare earths and other materials amid growing global uncertainties, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. They shared the understanding during the Joint Economic Commission, a high-level bilateral economic dialogue, led by Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jina and Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Yan …
Continue ReadingFinland faces rising exposure to global trade disruption due to heavy reliance on imports from China, with lithium-ion batteries identified as a key point of concern, according to a new report published on Monday. The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy said nearly 38 per cent of Finland’s imports classified as vulnerable came from China in 2024. The study forms part of a …
Continue ReadingGold accounted for 59% of January’s platform volume as prices hit record highs, while oil trading spiked 649% tied to Middle East tensions. The CFD broker’s first-quarter figure nearly matches its full-year 2024 total of $1.7 trillion, with total trades up 81% year-over-year. Capital.com said client trading volumes on its platform reached $1.27 trillion in the first quarter of …
Continue ReadingThe copper market’s been one of those setups where you can feel the tension building under the surface lately—prices have pulled back from those crazy January highs around $6.58. Still, since falling to $5.24, prices have held tough, slightly above the halfway point back to the January highs of $5.91 at $6.00, with decent volume from both specs and commercials. …
Continue ReadingThe world is ramping up its lithium production in a bid to meet the growing global demand for critical minerals, being driven by renewable energy deployment and the higher uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) and other electronics. Lithium production from mining increased from 31,500 metric tonnes in 2015 to 82,500 tonnes in 2020 and 290,000 tonnes in 2025. While China …
Continue ReadingFederal equity and equity-linked instruments have become embedded in the sector’s financing architecture, with direct consequences for M&A structuring, capital formation, liability management, governance and exit planning. The US government’s role in critical minerals has shifted materially. Executive actions, agency designations, and sustained public emphasis have framed critical minerals as essential to national security, defense readiness, grid resilience, job creation …
Continue ReadingIndustrial metals have jumped to a record high on the London Metal Exchange (LME), driven gains in aluminum after the Middle East war disrupted supplies, as well as a recent revival in copper. The LME Index, which tracks six major metals, has rallied by almost 12% over the past four weeks and was at an all-time peak on the close of April …
Continue ReadingResearch firm BMI – a Fitch Solutions Company – is revising its 2026 nickel price forecast to $16 600/t from $15 800/t previously, following an earlier upward out-of-cycle revision this year, reflecting a structurally firmer price environment despite expectations for prices to continue to moderate. In its latest ‘Outlook for nickel prices’ report, BMI explains that nickel prices traded at elevated levels in January, …
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