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 top producers Indonesia and the Philippines tighten export policies and raise mining royalties, reshaping global supply chains.
An employee of Chinese company CMOC demontrates cobalt hydroxide produced at Tenke Fungurume Mine, one of the largest copper and cobalt mines in the world, in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on June 17, 2023. (Photo by Emmet LIVINGSTONE / AFP)

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 poised to raise concerns in Western economies scrambling to secure strategic and critical transition metals for energy transition technologies.

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by Edwin Shri Bimo

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