Category: Strategic Resources

Malaysia’s U.S. Trade Pact Triggers China, Sovereignty Backlash

The United States is moving to cut China out of the supply chains for rare earths, critical minerals, and advanced electronics, and it is using Malaysia-U.S. rare earths deal to do it, as said by one of the top opposition figure in Malaysia.

Thailand Faces Backlash Over U.S. Rare Earth Deal Aimed at China

The U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Sunday signed a rare earths and critical minerals memorandum on the sidelines of an ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur. The deal is drawing immediate backlash in Bangkok from opposition lawmakers. ...

Addressing China, U.S. Gets Full Rare Earth Access from Malaysia

The United States is moving to lock in Malaysia as a secure economic and strategic partner in Southeast Asia. The U.S.–Malaysia rare earths agreement ties market access to U.S. rules on critical minerals, rare earths, technology, data, labor, and national ...

China’s Export Curbs Spur Rare Earth Scramble

China’s announcement last week that exports of refined rare earth minerals, permanent magnets using these elements, and the equipment used to refine them, has sparked panic among the countries that depend on these exports for high-technology products, including weapons and wind turbines.

China to License Rare-Earth Exports to Screen Security Risks

China’s Commerce Ministry on Sunday says rare-earth export licenses will screen security risks, not halt trade nor impose an export ban. Compliant civilian applications “will get approval,” with a “very limited” supply-chain impact. It says partners were notified in ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

How to Lure Chinese Financing Back to the Global South: Report

Global South countries face increasing financing pressure, endangering their ability to keep developing while also implementing measures to deal with a growing climate crisis. The disruption of global trade is coupled with a larger megatrend: flows of international capital to the developing world have turned negative. This means that countries are now routinely paying more to service loans than they receive in disbursements.

The vast majority of Global South borrowers ...

China to Stockpile 169 Million Barrels of Oil by 2026

China is expanding its crude oil reserves with new storage sites scheduled for completion in 2025–2026. The effort will add at least 169 million barrels of capacity across 11 locations, according to public data. China has built about ...

China–Malaysia in Rare Earths Refinery Talks, With Tech Transfer

China and Malaysia are in early talks on a rare-earth processing project. The potential collaboration could involve Chinese state-linked firms partnering with Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional to build a refinery in Malaysia, according to people familiar with the discussions.

China Offers Malaysia Rare Earths Processing Under Conditions

China has opened the door for Malaysia to host what would be its first overseas rare earths processing venture. This was revealed after President Xi Jinping signalled Beijing’s readiness to provide technical assistance, only if run through government-linked companies. The ...

China Expands Strategic Reserve of Industrial Metals as Indonesia, Philippines Tighten Supply

China is quietly expanding its strategic reserves of key industrial metals, including nickel, just as Indonesia and the Philippines tighten export policies and raise mining royalties, reshaping global supply chains. Beijing’s stockpiling efforts and shifting supply dynamics in Southeast Asia are ...

With Prices Low, China Moves Quickly to Secure Supplies of Critical Metals

The year-long plunge in the prices of critical materials used to manufacture electric vehicle batteries, namely nickel, cobalt, and lithium, is destroying the bottom lines of Western mining companies. Mining companies in Australia, Canada, and several European countries are laying off ...

Massive Russian Energy Buys Are Transforming China’s Global Trade

Russia is now China's largest single supplier of energy commodities in a shift that is also transforming Beijing's trade engagement in countries throughout the Global South. Whereas fifteen years ago, China sourced a third of its imported crude oil from African ...

Challenging Chinese Mining Contracts Isn’t About Politics, It’s About What’s Fair, Says DRC Finance Minister

DR Congo Finance Minister Nicolas Kazadi pushed back against the narrative that Kinshasa is specifically targeting Chinese companies over unfair mining contracts. The minister was adamant in his discussion with Financial Times correspondent Tom Wilson at the FT Commodities Global ...
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