Uncertainty Roils Minerals Markets

A 2023 image of workers at the Tenke Fungurume mine - the world's largest cobalt mine - operated by the Chinese company CMOC in the DRC. Photo by Emmet LIVINGSTONE / AFP

Uncertain economic outlooks for key markets and the erupting trade war are disrupting markets for critical minerals. While prices for some tech-related minerals are spiking as countries scramble to secure supplies, others are slumping. The latter is due to ongoing economic uncertainty in China and Monday’s plunge in the U.S. stock market after President Donald Trump refused to rule out a recession.

State intervention in minerals markets is a key reason for the disruption. These include limits imposed by China on the export of rare earth minerals in response to U.S. measures, as well as the recent announcement of a four-month freeze on cobalt exports by the Democratic Republic of Congo to drive prices up. These increases come despite some analysts predicting that the freeze won’t correct the global oversupply that pushed prices down

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by CGSP Staff

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