Post by Mercuria

Last week, our Chief Metals & Minerals Economist, Nicholas Snowdon, was in Washington, D.C., participating in several critical minerals events, including the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center Forum, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Critical Minerals Summit, and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence's Giga US 2026. Several themes emerged from discussions throughout the week: 𝟭. 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗳𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 Steel and aluminum tariffs have accelerated U.S. investment by creating sustained domestic price premiums, while demand impacts remain limited. For minerals lacking tariff-compatible market structures, such as rare earths, price floors could provide a similar investment incentive. 𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 The U.S. exports nearly one million tonnes of copper raw materials annually. Retaining and processing more of this material domestically could meet nearly half of current demand. The constraint is downstream processing capacity, not resource availability. 𝟯. 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰-𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 Building resilient critical mineral supply chains requires efficient capital allocation and close government-industry collaboration. We support this effort through our investment in TechMet Ltd, partnership with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) in the DRC, and our founding in Project Vault. 𝟰. 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 Project Vault can help protect manufacturers from future supply disruptions while creating long-term taxpayer value. Recent SPR releases highlighted the importance of strategic inventories, and we are proud to be working with Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) to support Vault's development. 𝟱. 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 Discussions with manufacturers reinforced what macro data already suggests: AI-driven capex, electrification, and infrastructure investment continue to support demand growth, with little evidence of demand destruction. The message from Washington was clear: securing critical mineral supply chains is increasingly viewed as both an economic and national security priority, and momentum behind practical solutions continues to build. #CriticalMinerals #ProjectVault #GEF2026 #ACEnergy #USChamber #GigaUS