China’s gold market cools amid ETF outflows: report

China’s gold market cooled in May as weaker prices, robust equity markets and soft jewelry demand weighed on investment activity, according to the World Gold Council (WGC). Chinese gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded their first monthly outflows since August 2025, while wholesale demand slumped to its weakest May level in more than a decade, the WGC said in a report released Friday. …

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Critical minerals reshaping global trade as demand surges: UNCTAD

Supply chains remain highly concentrated, while governments increasingly use trade policy to secure access, says UN agency. Critical minerals are reshaping global trade as demand rises for clean energy, electrification and digital technologies, the UN Trade and Development agency (UNCTAD) said on Friday. In its June 2026 Global Trade Update, UNCTAD said copper, nickel, lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements …

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Copper surges as Trump signals Iran deal could come within days

Copper prices staged a strong recovery on Friday, climbing more than 2% from a three-week low after US President Donald Trump signalled that a deal with Iran to end the four-month conflict could be signed as soon as this weekend.  The positive development helped ease immediate fears over prolonged disruptions to global commodity supply chains. The three-month copper futures on the …

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Canada risks losing critical minerals infrastructure race, PwC warns

Canada risks losing its competitive edge in critical minerals, energy and other strategic sectors unless it accelerates infrastructure investment and project approvals, according to a new PwC Canada report. Canada is projected to invest $4.7 trillion in infrastructure by 2050, but the country is spending a smaller share of its economy on infrastructure than many high-performing peers and risks falling behind …

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Palladium attempts to recover losses as Bank of America maintains a bullish outlook

While markets have been focused on the recent sharp decline in gold prices, the broader precious metals sector has also experienced significant selling pressure, with platinum-group metals suffering some of the steepest losses, according to a report from Bank of America. Both platinum and palladium recently fell to their lowest levels of the year amid continued pressure from the global …

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US business group says some critical minerals are ‘nearly unobtainable’ from China

US access to critical minerals from China remains difficult due to export controls and licensing delays, a US business lobby said on Wednesday, with Beijing’s restrictions driving three-quarters of impacted companies to search for new supplies. Introduced in April 2025 in retaliation for US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, Beijing’s controls tightly restrict exports of certain rare earths crucial for advanced …

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China isn’t defending critical minerals investment. It’s defending leverage

Chinese reactions to Treasurer Jim Chalmers’s decision to order six China-linked investors to divest their holdings in Northern Minerals tells us far more than the decision itself. China’s Global Times publication condemned the move as irrational ‘de-sinicisation’. It argued that Australia lacked the manufacturing capability, technological depth and industrial capacity needed to build a successful critical minerals industry without China. If the editorial was …

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Lithium’s threat isn’t demand, but pricing

Lithium investors are asking the wrong question about battery substitution. For years, the industry has debated whether a breakthrough technology would dethrone lithium as the cornerstone of the energy transition, but the more immediate threat is less dramatic and potentially more damaging: alternative battery chemistries are beginning to cap demand growth in some of the market’s fastest-growing segments, threatening future …

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