The U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM) will invest $100 billion to secure U.S. and allied supply chains for critical minerals, nuclear energy and liquefied natural gas, the organisation's chair John Jovanovic told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday… adding that the West was over-reliant on supplies of these critical materials that "are no longer fair"…"We can't do anything else that we're trying to do without these underlying critical raw material supply chains being secure, stable and functioning," he was quoted saying…The bank has $100 billion left to deploy of the $135 billion authorized by Congress, he said.

The US Defense Department will reissue an updated tender for up to $500 million worth of cobalt by end-November 2025, with an award expected in early February 2026, according to Argus News…The Defense Logistics Agency first sought offers in mid-August for up to 7,500 tons of cobalt over the next five years, but in mid October cancelled the tender due to “outstanding issues with the Statement of Work” after interested parties missed several deadlines…The DLA was seeking offers for alloy-grade cobalt from three producers: units of Vale SA in Canada, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. in Japan and Glencore Plc’s Nikkelverk plant in Norway…Cobalt consumption in EV batteries overtook other sources of demand like aerospace alloys several years ago and the downstream impact of the DRC strategy has been swift…Cobalt prices would likely remain elevated and could rise further under the quota scheme put in place for 2026 and 2027 and will be further supported if the US government does re-enter the market for the first time since 1990.

Canada, Australia and India have agreed to form a new trilateral partnership aimed at strengthening cooperation on critical minerals, emerging technologies and supply-chain resilience, signing the accord on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, which concluded in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Sunday…The new Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation (ACITI) partnership will focus on green-energy innovation, strategic minerals development and the advancement of AI, drawing on the three countries’ shared strengths…All three countries see critical minerals as a strategic lever, both to attract supply-chain investment and to strengthen geopolitical resilience in the face of concentrated upstream supply.

South Africa and the European Union vowed to defend multilateralism on Thursday, ahead of the G20 summit, as they signed a partnership on critical minerals…"We are no longer going to rely on extracting minerals only. We will want to extract those minerals, have them processed at the point of extraction ... so that South Africa begins to move up the value chain," Ramaphosa said…EU leaders are scrambling to secure dozens of metals that are vital to the world's transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, for the revolution in computing and for defence, as it faces potentially damaging restrictions on supply from China, the world's main supplier of rare earths…The EU's plans include stockpiling rare earths before rivals, including the United States, and developing a 9-million-euro joint purchasing mechanism…"We need these inputs to power the clean-energy transition both here and in Europe. So the future of our economy depends on fair and reliable supply chains," von der Leyen said.

Britain on Saturday rolled out a critical minerals strategy designed to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers by 2035, with targets to source 10% of domestic demand from UK production and 20% from recycling, the government said, as global competition for these essential resources intensifies…Backed by up to 50 million pounds in new funding, the strategy seeks to ensure no more than 60% of the UK's supply of any one critical mineral comes from a single country by 2035, according to a statement…British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in the statement critical minerals "are the backbone of modern life and our national security," arguing that boosting domestic production and recycling would help shield the economy and support efforts to lower living costs…Britain faces an urgent need for a secure, long-term supply of critical minerals, including copper, lithium and nickel, which are essential for smartphones and electric vehicles and increasingly crucial for building data centers that power artificial intelligence…The strategy underscores China’s grip on critical mineral supplies leaving the sector exposed to price swings, geopolitical strains and sudden disruptions.