글로벌 인프라 투자 파트너십이 예산 항목을 잃는 가운데 행정부는 살아남은 프로젝트를 반중국 광물 전략으로 재정의
Critical Minerals
Mining and, above all, refining — rare earths, lithium, copper.
state of play
The minerals war is escalating on enforcement, not just licensing. China blacklisted MP Materials and USA Rare Earth June 22, then published MOFCOM Announcement No. 26 on June 24 (effective July 1): a whistleblower reward system for reporting illegal rare-earth exports, converting a legal architecture into active enforcement. China's Mineral Resources Law entered force June 15, tightening state oversight of extraction. The full stack, Mineral Resources Law → entity listings → 46-firm procurement ban (Lockheed, Raytheon, Boeing Defense) → whistleblower rewards, escalates with each US 1260H list expansion; the Pentagon expanded to 188 entities June 8 (Alibaba, Baidu, BYD). The chokepoint leverage is in refining, China refines over 80% of rare earths and makes ~90% of high-performance magnets, and no Western refinery substitution is at scale. The G7 critical-minerals deals and US price-floor partnership with MP Materials are the demand-side response. Watch MOFCOM enforcement actions from July 1 and Western refinery buildout timelines.
tracking
Rare earths & magnets
Battery metals
Copper & base metals
latest
pending-decision 세이프가드 관세 8년 만에 소멸, 섹션 232 폴리실리콘 조사 임박
수입 패널에 대한 8년간의 세이프가드 조치가 2월 만료; 국가 안보를 근거로 한 폴리실리콘 조사가 미국 태양광 공급망을 다시 흔들 수 있어
The world's top uranium miner lifts production on the Budenovskoye ramp while holding nominal output ~10% below earlier plans
Beijing adds 10 US firms June 22; MOFCOM Announcement No. 26 (June 24, effective July 1) adds whistleblower rewards for illegal exports; Mineral Resources Law in force June 15
Thirty commercial agreements close during Tokayev's Brussels visit; Astana offers 21 of the EU's 34 critical raw materials and the two sides initial a visa facilitation deal
Spot prices stall on muted utility buying even as mine restarts slip and the long-term reactor-fuel gap widens
DOE task orders to Centrus, General Matter and Orano, plus Urenco's New Mexico expansion, aim to replace Russian LEU before the 2028 waiver cliff
Canada's PM banks 13 critical-minerals partnerships and a France intelligence pact, while caught reassuring Trump over Chinese EV imports
A 10 June 2026 investigation says Rubaya coltan, taxed by M23 at $4/kg, is relabelled Rwandan and sold into the world's biggest tech brands
Nine EPC contractors visit the Angola-DRC-Zambia route; preferred bidders due by August, but Zambian-leg financing slips to late 2027
Intel and Samsung start the shift from organic resin to glass cores; SK's Absolics ships first commercial-grade panels; Korea contests Intel on standards
contested-result Rosatom bets on a record four foreign reactor start-ups in 2026, sanctions permitting
Akkuyu, Rooppur and two Chinese units are slated to come online, defending a $206bn order book as Western financing and equipment routes close
The EU consolidates to 256 flagship projects for 2026 and chases a raised target, as MEPs press on where the money actually went
Global grid-scale storage adds hit records into 2026 with China taking over half; the US trails by an order of magnitude
China's overseas corridor programme posts record deal value as it pivots from megaports to energy, critical minerals and 'small but smart' projects