The weaponization of critical minerals supplies due to trade tensions could lead to the kind of emergency that would provide the push that the US needs to develop its metals and mining sector, the chief executive officer of Alaska Energy Metals has said.

President Donald Trump’s long-promised series of day-one executive orders imply a seismic shift in the approach of the United States to the environment, critical minerals and energy.

The biggest threat to keeping carbon emissions low in the steel industry is imports flowing in from regions where there is a lack of focus on emissions reduction, Kevin Dempsey, president and chief executive officer of the American Iron and Steel Institute, said at Fastmarkets’ second annual Circular Steel Summit on Wednesday January 15 in Houston, Texas.

Africa’s first transcontinental rail network, known as the Lobito Corridor, which aims to eventually connect almost the entire regional copper-cobalt belt with additional links across sub-Saharan Africa, is on track to break ground early in 2026, a senior official at the US Department of State told Fastmarkets.

The European steel and aluminium scrap industries urged the European Commission on Wednesday January 15 against taking action to curb scrap exports after domestic industry metals producers backed measures to do just that.

Investment shortfalls, aggravated by recent poor performance in commodities markets, political and economic instability and surging demand, have sown the seeds for the next commodity bull cycle, leading to “metal shocks” in a similar vein to the “oil shocks” of the 1970s, according to economist Philippe Gijsels, chief strategy officer at BNP Paribas Fortis.

Trade tensions and critical minerals: 2025 outlook on disruptions, supply chain diversification, and local production strategies.

Renewed US-China trade tensions with Donald Trump’s second presidential term could bolster Southeast Asia’s aluminium scrap industry in 2025, particularly amid still-growing Chinese demand, sources told Fastmarkets by Tuesday, January 14.

European steel and aluminium producers have urged the European Commission to take immediate and effective action to tackle "scrap leakage" so that the European Union can meet its sustainable development aims and secure industrial competitiveness.

China issued its first national standard for black mass material used in lithium-ion battery recycling on the final day of 2024, with market participants expecting that it will provide clearer guidance on importing the material into the powerhouse country, Fastmarkets heard on Friday January 10.