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With industry leaders gearing up for next week’s Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s booming non-oil economy is presenting ever-growing opportunities for critical minerals.
The FMF, taking place at the sprawling King Abdullah Financial District Conference Center (KAICC) on January 13-15, will bring together critical minerals decision-makers at a time of a booming industrial economy in Saudi Arabia.
Key economic indicators such as Saudi Arabia’s purchasing manager’s index (PMI) for the non-oil economy and crude steel output both performed very strongly in the second half of 2025.
Under its ambitious Saudi Vision 2030 blueprint, Saudi Arabia is rapidly shifting away from oil dependence through major investments, regulatory reform and greater focus on strategic resources — particularly critical minerals.
In this article, we look ahead at the major discussion points expected to dominate critical minerals conversations across the vast FMF conference halls next week.
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states are increasingly leveraging their mineral resources, financial firepower and central geographic location to diversify the critical minerals supply chain and secure supply.
Saudi Arabian mining company Maaden formed a strategic joint venture with US rare earth miner and refiner MP Materials and the US Department of War (DoW) to develop a rare earths refinery in Saudi Arabia, Maaden announced in November.
Saudi Arabian mining exploration spending continues to grow, having reached a record 1.05 billion riyals ($279.8 million) in 2024, driven by a surge in private sector spending, according to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources (MIM) in October.
Saudi Arabia is also developing its downstream supply chain, with a planned lithium salts refinery set to be built by EV Metals Group, as well as two domestic electric vehicle brands now established — Ceer and Lucid.
Saudi capital investment is also happening abroad, for example through Manara Minerals, a joint venture formed in 2023 between Maaden and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which acquired 10% of Vale Base Metals.
Other GCC sovereign wealth funds are adopting a similar strategy with acquisitions of key metals and mineral assets globally.
For example, Abu Dhabi’s International Resource Holding (IRH) acquired a controlling 51% stake in Mopani Copper Mines in Zambia in 2024, and bought a majority stake in Alphamin Resources, a tin producer in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2025.
In January 2025, Abu Dhabi’s ADQ and US investment company Orion Resource Partners entered into an agreement to establish a new Abu Dhabi-based 50-50 joint venture, committing to deploying an initial $1.2 billion to “secure the supply of critical minerals.”
Elsewhere, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority, has invested abroad in US battery recycler Ascend Elements, US critical minerals investment company TechMet as well as in global base metals miner Ivanhoe.
As the Middle East considers “life beyond oil”, the role of copper is growing in its growth and energy transition strategy, from the mining sector to sovereign wealth fund investment.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) World Energy Outlook 2025, published in November, expects peak electricity demand in the Middle East to rise by around 40% in 2035, compared with 2025, underscoring the need for additional investment.
Copper is at the heart of a more electrified energy system, resulting in increasing demand and tightening supply dynamics that have seen extreme market conditions in 2025.
The Middle East’s share of global mined copper production remains minimal, with the largest mined copper producer in the region being Iran, with 336,000 tonnes mined in 2024, comprising 1.46% of the world total, according to International Copper Study Group (ICSG) data.
In terms of treatment charges (TCs) Fastmarkets calculated its weekly copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific – a mid-point between smelter and trader buying levels – at $(69.70) per tonne on January 2, unchanged after reaching an all-time low on December 24.
Iran is the only country in the region that exports refined copper at around 114,000 tonnes in 2024 per ICSG data, while the rest are net importers.
Copper usage in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over January-October rose to 368,100 tonnes, up by 10,000 tonnes from the corresponding period in 2024. Meanwhile, copper usage in Saudi Arabia over January-October rose to 181,000 tonnes, up by 18,700 tonnes from the corresponding period in 2024.
In 2025, Middle East pricing for copper premiums was heard to be at a discount of $20-30 per tonne to long-term contract levels in Europe, according to one trader in the region, who noted that people “had to come to the Middle East as a point of liquidation.”
However, this year “[Middle Eastern] premiums [have been] driven through the roof,” according to the trader, with offers for CIF Jebel Ali EQ material heard at sharply higher levels than 2025 for long-term contracts.
Fastmarkets assessed spot copper EQ cathode premium, cif Europe at $150-170 per tonne on Tuesday January 6, flat from the previous session on December 30. In 2025, the assessment averaged $127.22 per tonne.
Copper equivalent grade (EQ) cathodes serve as a primary raw material for producing electrolytic copper wire rods. These rods are subsequently drawn into fine electrical wiring and cables utilized in construction and electronics.
The region is attracting new investment, with Indian multinational Vedanta having announced plans in November 2024 to invest $2 billion in Saudi Arabia for three projects for the red metal, including a 400,000 tonnes per year greenfield copper smelter and refinery, and a 300,000 tpy copper rod project.
Global mining giant Glencore also announced in March 2024 that it is part of a project to build Saudi Arabia’s first copper smelter, with a planned capacity of 400,000 tpy.
Moving into FMF 2026, GCC aluminium producers have benefitted from higher LME aluminium prices and climbing regional premiums.
The LME aluminium cash price jumped above $3,000 per tonne on Monday January 5, amid a broader move in base metals and strong competition among nation states for critical minerals supply.
The GCC, home to 9% of global primary aluminium supply in 2024, is considered to be a ‘swing market’, which can export tonnes to Europe, Asia and the US, depending on the most attractive premium level. All three of these export regions have recorded sharp increases in P1020 premiums in recent months and have been competing aggressively to attract volumes.
For example, the European duty-paid P1020 premium market, which has recently suffered a slew of supply disruptions, has rallied by 33% since the fourth quarter of 2025.
Fastmarkets’ twice-weekly benchmark assessment for aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dp Rotterdam was at $330-360 per tonne on Tuesday in a strong start to 2026, up from $320-350 per tonne a week earlier.
Fastmarkets assessed the daily aluminium P1020A premium, ddp Midwest US at 93-96 cents per lb on Thursday, up sharply from 74-76 cents per lb on October 1, 2025.
Interested in what’s ahead for the critical minerals market? Access Fastmarkets critical minerals price data, market analysis and forecasting. Speak to one of our experts to find out more.