Cobalt prices rallied in the wake of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) imposition of a ban on cobalt exports in late February. But this price response was not felt uniformly across all cobalt grades, with the cobalt sulphate price rally outpacing that of cobalt metal—causing cobalt metal’s historical premium to sulphate to shrink. The […]
> 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 […]
> In the third quarter of 2025, 18 of the largest 25 copper miners reported quarter-on-quarter decreases in their output, including the top four miners. The total Q3 copper production reported by the top 25 miners hit 3.72Mt. “In the third quarter, many companies saw lower production compared to the previous quarter. However, most did not […]
> 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 […]
> The Trump administration is stepping up direct investments in critical mineral projects to bolster US supply security, as part of a broader push by Washington to acquire equity in sectors considered vital to national security. Last week, the US Department of Energy (DoE) announced it would restructure a $2.3bn loan agreement with Lithium Americas, providing […]
> 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 […]
> The cobalt market is coming to terms with a new reality following the DRC’s decision to extend its ban on cobalt exports in June until at least September. Whilst the ban has been in place since late February – after which the market saw an immediate step-change in pricing – the impact on China’s cobalt […]
> The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will lift its ban on cobalt exports on 16 October, replacing it with a strict quota system that will govern mined output and exports until at least 2027. In a communiqué published by Arecoms, the state cobalt regulator, Kinshasa announced a short extension of the current export suspension […]
> 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 […]