As copper demand rises to feed the global energy transition, copper-rich African nations are increasingly seeking to maximise the economic potential of their abundant reserves. Zambia is the latest to propose additional measures to caputre greater value from its copper revenues, as Bloomberg reported last week that the government plans to create a state-owned company […]
> The US is exploring opportunities to extend the Lobito Corridor Railway to Tanzania, creating a ‘Trans-Africa Corridor’ to connect the Central African Copperbelt to both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Speaking in Tanzania in late August, Helaina Matza, Acting Special Coordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI), said the US’ ‘mission’ was […]
> Benchmark Week 2025 kicked off in LA on Tuesday, with policy makers, industry leaders, and experts from Benchmark discussing the key topics impacting energy transition supply chains in 2025. From across the first day’s sessions three key takeaways emerged: 1. Supply chains are a national security priority now more than ever “These are not just […]
> The broad LME/CME arbitrage continues to be a talking point, even months after it collapsed as result of cathodes being precluded from US copper tariffs. The reason the topic is still being broadly discussed is because, despite the arbitrage collapsing from its heights above $2500/t it is still relatively broad. This morning the arbitrage sat […]
> Lithium chemical prices spiked in China on Monday following a bullish speech by the chairman of Ganfeng – the world’s third-largest lithium producer – in which it was suggested that lithium demand growth could reach 30% in 2026. In a keynote speech on 16 November at the 10th International Summit on Power Battery Application in […]
> Fears of tariffs drove the US to import record levels of copper cathode during the first seven months of 2025, pulling supply away from Europe as Chilean exports were re-routed to the US to capture the wide arbitrage between CME and LME copper benchmarks. The US drew in 342kt of Chilean copper in Q2 25 […]
> China has postponed the implementation of its expanded rare earth export controls announced in early October following high-level US-China trade negotiations in South Korea this week. It marks a temporary easing in what had become an escalating front in the tit-for-tat US–China trade confrontation. The announcement follows extensive economic and trade consultations in Kuala Lumpur, […]
> US President Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have signed a landmark Critical Minerals Framework to bolster both nations’ access to rare earths and other critical minerals, in an effort to counter China’s dominance over strategically important supply chains. The framework indicates that the two governments will utilise a range of policy instruments to […]
> Escalating unrest in Mali, as jihadi groups target fuel convoys around the capital Bamako, has led several governments including France and the US to advise their citizens to leave the country. The attacks have created fuel shortages, and raised serious concerns around the military government’s ability to maintain its rule in the country. Mali is […]