Key Takeaways:
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan sounded a warning signal that the world’s supply of oil and natural gas may start to dwindle if shipping through the Strait of Hormuz doesn’t return to normal soon.
Logan, whose district includes the Permian Basin — the world’s largest shale-oil field — said U.S. production won’t be able to fill the gap in global oil supplies driven by the war in Iran. Capital, labor and other input constraints — combined with the physical limitations to piping natural gas out of West Texas fields — mean consumers may face a new reality where critical sources of fuel are not as widely available, Logan said May 27 at a Bank of Japan conference in Tokyo.
About 10% of global oil supplies have been trapped in the Persian Gulf by the war. So far, Logan said, reserve drawdowns have helped fill the gap, but, she added, inventories are finite.
“With supplies highly constrained, if shipping through the strait does not soon return to prewar levels, world oil and natural gas consumption could need to fall more meaningfully than it has so far,” Logan said. “The economic consequences would depend on the degree to which end users can switch to other energy sources or use energy more efficiently, versus curtailing economic activity.”
Logan, who before taking the helm of the Dallas Fed spent her career on the markets desk of the New York Fed, repeated calls for improving the resilience of the U.S. Treasury market in times of crisis. The Fed should centrally clear its open market operations, she said, and should look for better ways to distinguish its asset purchases made to support market functioning versus those intended to stimulate the economy.
“Developing a richer tool kit in calm times would support a more nimble and targeted response to any future stresses,” Logan said.
The Dallas Fed chief also spoke about declining birth rates and aging populations, and said central bankers will need to re-frame what healthy labor-force and economic growth look like in such an environment.
It ain’t pretty.
Kevin Warsh’s first week as Federal Reserve Chair comes packed withhawkish expectations both inside and outside the central bank that geopolitical and economic factors may cause the Fed to raise the benchmark Federal Funds Rate sooner than later instead of a long-expected cut to the costs of short-term borrowing.
But those expectations could reverse if there is a timely end to the three-month Iran War that will cease energy price spikes, reduce heightened inflation risk and anchor the bond market.
As these conditions normalize, policy doves expect an easing that will allow the Fed to lower interest rates -- which President Donald Trump has been demanding since the beginning of his second term.
The big question is timing.
The latest U.S. economic data reflecting rising price pressures and a stabilizing labor market plus a jittery Treasury bond market has brought increasingly hawkish outlooks from some Fed officials, big banks and market watchers.
The widely-respected CME Group FedWatch Tool is predicting a near 100% probability that the central bankers will vote to hold rates steady at the June 16-17 Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
As I’ve reported, futures traders expect a near 70% chance of rate hikes to follow including a 43% chance of a rate hike at the December FOMC meeting.
But not all experts agree, including John Briggs, head of U.S. rates strategy at Natixis, who told Morningstar that he is skeptical of that particular outcome.
Warsh campaigned for lower Fed interest rates
Kevin Warsh took over the Chair role on May 22 -- the same day the Dow closed at a record high.
But bond yields rattled upwards and inflation forecasts rose due to surging oil prices as the Iran peace process drags on.
Thus sparking signals from some Fed officials and many analysts to suggest that the policy-making FOMC will reverse its own earlier assumptions of rate cuts in the short term and consider the strong possibility of interest-rate hikes as soon as the end of the year if not sooner.
This is definitely not what Trump was expecting when he nominated Warsh in January after a months-long campaign to find whom the president defined as “loyal” Fed Chair who would follow his monetary policy agenda which included slashing the benchmark Federal Funds Rate to 1% or less.
Warsh, a former Fed governor, has long been critical of the central bank and has called for lower interest rates as well as a smaller balance sheet and a reduced communications strategy.
He muted some critics concerned about Fed independence from political and partisan interference by saying he had not discussed interest rates with Trump during the Chair interviews or afterwards.
https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/top-analyst-hurls-warning-fed-164700116.html
Retaliatory strike came in response to US strike near Bandar Abbas Airport in southern Iran, IRGC says in statement.
Anadolu Staff
28 May 2026 • Update: 28 May 2026
WASHINGTON
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said early Thursday that it targeted a US airbase in Kuwait in response to an American aerial strike near Bandar Abbas Airport in southern Iran.
According to Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency, the IRGC said the retaliatory strike came at 4.50 am (0120GMT), hours after what it described as a US assault on a point near the port city's airport using aerial projectiles.
"This response is a serious warning so that the enemy knows that aggression will not go unanswered, and if repeated, our response will be more decisive," it said.
There was no immediate response from the US military.
Earlier in the day, a US official told Anadolu that US forces shot down four Iranian drones that posed a threat near the Strait of Hormuz and struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was preparing to launch a fifth drone.
"These actions were measured, purely defensive, and intended to maintain the ceasefire," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The latest strikes came after US Central Command (CENTCOM) earlier this week confirmed a previous round of strikes on southern Iran targeting missile launch sites and Iranian boats allegedly attempting to lay mines. Iran condemned those strikes as a "grave violation of the ceasefire."
Earlier, commenting on the state of the negotiations to end the war on Iran, US President Donald Trump said he is "not satisfied with it, but we will be. Either that, or we'll have to just finish the job."
Regional tensions boiled over on Feb. 28 when the US and Israel launched surprise attacks on Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate with barrages of drones and missiles that hit targets across the region and to shutter the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement.
Trump later extended the truce indefinitely while maintaining a blockade on vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports through the strategic waterway and periodically saying a peace deal was close.
Canada is set to deepen energy ties with Germany as Europe grapples with a prolonged energy crisis linked to the war in Ukraine — and now escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Canada will sign an agreement with Germany’s SEFE group — Securing Energy for Europe — for supplies from the proposed Ksi Lisims export facility on the coast of British Columbia, AP reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak ahead of Wednesday’s announcement.
Up to 1 million metric tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year will be exported under the agreement.
The planned exports from Canada would amount to roughly one-eighth of Germany’s LNG imports last year in energy terms. Germany imported 106 terawatt hours of gas through LNG terminals in 2025, according to the Bundesnetzagentur, the country’s federal energy regulator.
SEFE is a major German energy company. It was previously the German subsidiary of Gazprom before Berlin nationalised it in 2022 as Europe struggled with an energy crisis tied to the war in Ukraine.
After European countries backed Ukraine, Russia sharply reduced natural gas supplies, triggering an energy crisis that fuelled inflation and forced some factories to scale back or shut down because of soaring energy prices.
Before the war, Germany was one of the largest importers of Russian gas in Europe.
Germany continues to rely on LNG imports as part of its efforts to replace Russian pipeline gas supplies.
Overall, with the Iran war unfolding, concerns are growing that Europe’s largest economy could face renewed energy shocks.
Germany’s economic outlook has weakened sharply amid the conflict and energy market instability. In April, the German government halved its 2026 growth forecast to 0.5% of GDP, citing the impact of energy shocks linked to the war in Iran.
The latest indicators suggest Germany’s economy remained weak in May, with both manufacturing and services under pressure, pointing to continued contraction in the private sector. However, Germany’s ifo Business Climate Index rose unexpectedly during the same month.
Canada looks beyond US market
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has set a target of doubling non-US trade within a decade. Energy-rich Canada currently exports almost all of its oil and gas to the United States.
British Columbia Premier David Eby said earlier on Tuesday that a deal to supply Canadian LNG to Germany would mark a key step towards the partners behind the Ksi Lisims project taking a final investment decision on the CA$10 billion (€6.6 billion) plant and export terminal.
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/germany-signs-major-canadian-lng-090612629.html
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has published an update on planned natural gas pipeline developments in the United States for 2026 and 2027 (US EIA in-brief analysis, 26/05/2026). Developers are expected to add approximately 44.9 bcf/d of new pipeline capacity over 2026–2027, equivalent to around 462 bcm/year, according to the EIA’s latest Natural Gas Pipeline Projects Tracker. About 70% (31.6 bcf/d, 325 bcm/year) of this capacity is already under construction.
Regionally, more than 66% (29.7 bcf/d, 306 bcm/year) of planned additions are located in Texas, while Louisiana accounts for 19% (8.4 bcf/d, 87 bcm/year). “The projects in Texas will provide additional takeaway capacity out of the Permian Basin and debottleneck the Waha Hub, supplying natural gas to LNG export terminals, as well as residential, power, and industrial users”, the report states.
Among the largest projects currently under construction and expected to come online by the end of 2026 are:
Finally, Virginia ranks third in planned capacity additions, with 1.6 bcf/d (17 bcm/year) expected in 2027 through Williams’s Southeast Supply Enhancement Project, an expansion of the existing Transcontinental Pipeline from Virginia to Alabama.
Thailand currently imports LNG via two import terminals operated by PTT.
These terminals include the first Map Ta Put LNG terminal (LMPT 1) with a capacity of 11.5 mtpa and the second Map Ta Phut LMPT2 LNG terminal, also known as the Nong Fab LNG terminal, with a capacity of 7.5 mtpa.
Since March, PTT has accelerated spot LNG procurement from sources outside the Middle East to offset supply disruptions caused by the conflict there.
The company also aims to increase LNG supplies under a long-term deal it has with US LNG exporter Cheniere.
PTT CEO Kongkrapan Intarajang discussed PTT’s LNG imports and trading plans during the first-quarter analyst meeting last week.
He noted that Thailand imports approximately 30 percent of its natural gas requirements.
Approximately 64 percent of natural gas comes from domestic sources, 9 percent from Myanmar, 6 percent comes from the Middle East via LNG from Qatar, and 21 percent is from other LNG sources.
Intarajang said that 20 percent of global LNG supply is transiting the Strait of Hormuz, creating a significant market impact, especially for Asia.
He said that supply normalization has now been re-baselined for 2028-2029, as asset restoration has effectively neutralized the previously projected LNG oversupply in 2026.
The CEO also noted that LNG prices have increased with market volatility.
Global LNG player
With this, PTT aims to accelerate sourcing from the US and other regions to reduce reliance on the Middle East.
The CEO said that PTT wants to strengthen its LNG portfolio by enhancing the value chain investment and securing “competitive LNG”.
“Amidst volatility, we have to step up LNG so that we can capitalize on LNG in the face of volatility,” he said.
He said that PTT’s target is to have a portfolio of 10 million tonnes per annum by 2030.
The company’s presentation shows that PTT aims to have a portfolio of 15 million tonnes per annum by 2035.
According to the presentation, PTT’s 2026 LNG portfolio target is 3.7 mtpa.
PTT’s plans include entering into long- and short-term LNG supply agreements, both free on board (FOB) and delivered ex-ship (DES), gas and oil-linked, and hybrid.
The presentation shows that PTT plans include supplying LNG from the US to Europe and Asia, as well as LNG from Canada, Latin America, APAC, and the Middle East to Asia.
PTT launched its LNG trading desk through its international trading unit in 2019.
PTT Trading’s website indicates that the company’s LNG portfolio exceeded 4 mtpa in 2023.
https://lngprime.com/asia/thailands-ptt-plans-to-grow-lng-portfolio-to-15-mtpa/187625/
Last updated: May 28, 2026
Quick Summary
EU Jet Fuel Market May Tighten If Strait of Hormuz Crisis Continues, Says Commission
European Commission Warns of Potential Jet Fuel Supply Tightening
BRUSSELS, May 28 (Reuters) - The market for jet fuel in the European Union could get tighter if the situation in the Strait of Hormuz does not improve within weeks, said the European Commission on Thursday.
Commission's Recent Update on Oil and Gas Coordination
The European Commission's energy department issued an update on Thursday following the latest meetings of its oil and gas co-ordination groups.
Impact of Strait of Hormuz Closure on EU Petroleum Markets
"The Oil Coordination Group signalled that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz impacts both crude oil and all major petroleum products, and that all EU countries are affected by the dynamics. So far, the EU has been experiencing price effects, with no physical supply disruptions at consumer level," it said.
Outlook: Jet Fuel Market Tightness Expected
"However, if the situation does not improve in the next weeks, markets are expected to become increasingly tighter, especially for jet fuel," it added.
https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/eu-jet-fuel-market-get-tighter-if-hormuz-situation-improve/
The Gulf war won’t save it
May 26th 2026 | Beijing | 6 min read
As America’s war on Iran roils energy markets, China’s clean-energy companies should be cashing in. The country makes over 80% of the world’s solar panels, churning them out in vast quantities. Thanks to such efforts, renewable sources generated more electricity than coal last year around the world. Yet China’s solar industry, though world-beating, is in turmoil. And the boost from the war has not been enough to steady it.
China’s solar exports have surged since the bombing began. But that will be small cheer to its companies, as they face three daunting problems. Domestic demand for their products is falling for the first time in decades because the country’s power grids—far and away the biggest market for solar panels—have become overloaded with the things. Solar-panel supply, meanwhile, is overabundant because of years of splashy investment in factories. And protectionism in overseas markets is rising. These problems also converge at an ugly time. Most companies have been running at a loss since 2024 owing to brutal price wars, and bankruptcies are mounting. After blistering growth the world’s solar factory now faces a reckoning.
The solar industry globally has not always been kind to investors. One solar panel is much like another, and improvements made by one producer are rapidly copied by competitors. So companies typically try to scale up as quickly as possible to seize market share. That means production can race far ahead of demand, causing margins to collapse. This tendency led to a lurching downturn in revenues in 2018, for instance, followed by a rebound after demand caught up.
But the current slump is of a different order. The main market for solar panels has always been within China, and roll-out has been so fast in recent years that it is outpacing the ability of the power grid to absorb it. All across the country, roofs, hills and deserts are carpeted with dark grey silicon. To keep the lights on, China has historically relied on coal-fired power, which can be turned on and off as needed. Solar panels work only when it is sunny, which can lead to power shortages at night and excesses during the day. As a result, in January and February about 9% of China’s solar generation was wasted, up from 6% in the same period last year.
That all makes it hard to justify adding much more. Installations this year could fall by between 24% and 43% from 2025, according to an industry group (see chart). That would be enough to cause global demand for solar panels to fall in 2026 for the first time in two decades, says Bloombergnef, a consultancy. For China’s grid to cope it needs to be able to store excess solar power or move it long distances to where it might be needed. That requires big investments in batteries and power lines, as well as figuring out flexible market mechanisms to co-ordinate everything (in some regions long-term contracts for coal-fired power lock out renewables even though they are cheaper). All this is happening, helped by the fact that batteries, like solar panels, are becoming much cheaper as production of them increases. But it takes time. That means that even if solar installations start rising again next year, growth will probably be much slower than before.
Meanwhile China’s solar companies are struggling with a glut of supply. Frenzied investment has left them able to produce over 1,000 gigawatts (gw) of solar-panel capacity in a year. That is far more than the already whopping 600gw that were installed worldwide in 2025 and probably more than the global market will ever be able to soak up, reckons Jenny Chase of Bloombergnef. “We’re running out of big countries that don’t already have a lot of solar at this point.”
Solar manufacturers have been calling for “self-discipline” to ease overcapacity. Last year some tried to co-ordinate production quotas and set floors for the cost of panels. It has proved hard, however, for them to work together. Only weeks after the agreement was in place one firm was publicly castigated for breaking it. Then in January officials said they were concerned that the group could become a cartel.
Officials are also keen to trim the bloat, however, as it is a problem across China’s clean-energy industries. The government once lavished support on solar manufacturers in all sorts of ways, from cheap land to interest-free loans. Now it has largely stepped back. Since June last year new solar projects have had to sell power at market prices rather than enjoying guaranteed feed-in tariffs. And a big reason for the export surge in March was that companies were cramming in shipments before April 1st, when they would stop enjoying a tax refund on exports. In recent months some Chinese local governments have even started demanding that solar companies return millions of yuan in subsidies, preferring to see them go bankrupt rather than to prop up failures.
Geopolitics, meanwhile, could bring more clouds over the horizon. Cheap Chinese solar panels have been a victim of their own success, sparking protectionist backlashes in both Western countries and neighbours including India. Since 2022 America has imposed tight restrictions on imports, as well as hefty tariffs on the shipments that get through. Some also worry that Chinese-made power infrastructure could pose a security risk; in May the European Union said it would phase out Chinese suppliers of inverters, a key piece of solar equipment, in eu-funded projects. Some Chinese companies are trying to outsource production abroad to avoid such political headaches.
It all makes for a gloomy outlook. More than 40 Chinese solar firms have gone bankrupt, been acquired or delisted from stock exchanges since 2024. One-third of the workforce of the country’s five biggest firms has been laid off, according to Reuters, a news agency. But the biggest wave of consolidation has yet to break, says Jessica Jin of s&p Global, a research firm. Solar-panel prices have nudged up in recent months, but they still sell for below their average production costs. The share prices of longi Green Energy Technology, Tongwei, Jingko Solar and Trina Solar, the biggest producers, are all hovering well below half their peaks of a few years ago.
Could anything bring back solar’s golden days? It would certainly help if countries lifted their trade barriers to Chinese goods. And another lifeline for China’s industry might be the commercialisation of technologies that dramatically increase solar panels’ efficiency (these days most convert 22-24% of the light that falls on them into electricity; more advanced kinds of solar cells called perovskites could push that rate above 30% while, in theory, being cheaper to produce). The question is just how many of China’s solar firms will survive to see such advances.
https://www.economist.com/china/2026/05/26/chinas-world-beating-solar-industry-is-in-turmoil
May 28 2026, 05:59 AM
The value of Bitcoin dropped to $73,294 amid the conflict between the US and Iran. Approximately $1.5 billion was withdrawn from US ETFs in May.
Bitcoin has dropped to its lowest level in more than six weeks amid investor concerns over the conflict between the US and Iran, as well as outflows from cryptocurrency ETFs in the US. This was reported by Bloomberg, according to UNN.
Details
During trading in Singapore, the value of Bitcoin fell by 2.5% to $73,294, the lowest level since April 14. Ethereum lost more than 4% and dropped to $1,970—a nearly two-month low.
Analysts attribute the crypto market decline to inflation fears and potential interest rate hikes due to the escalating situation in the Middle East. Additional pressure was created by an outflow of approximately $1.5 billion from US spot Bitcoin ETFs in May.
"Bitcoin's weakness seems to be largely related to macroeconomic factors rather than the cryptocurrency itself,"said Sean McNulty, head of derivatives for the Asia-Pacific region at FalconX.
According to IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore, traders are taking a cautious stance and reducing risk bets due to uncertainty surrounding the conflict between the US and Iran.
https://unn.ua/en/news/bitcoin-falls-to-six-week-low-due-to-war-and-etf-outflows
Silver July (SI=F) futures opened at $77.30 per ounce on Wednesday, up 0.9% from yesterday’s closing price. The price of silver slid lower as of 7:50 a.m. ET to $74.11.
Silver prices have been quiet in recent days as investors await meaningful news out of the Middle East. Recent military strikes by the U.S. on Monday made an already tenuous situation feel even more fragile. However, the ceasefire agreement is largely holding as both the U.S. and Iran negotiate must-haves and non-negotiables. Even if an agreement is reached this week, analysts expect the disruption in energy costs to continue for quite a while.
Current price of silver
The opening price of silver futures on Wednesday was up 0.9% from Tuesday’s closing price. Here’s how the opening silver price has changed versus last week, month, and year:
For context, silver’s year-over-year growth was 173.3% on May 14.
Silver vs. gold: Which made investors more money over the years?
Over the past 50 years, gold outperformed silver, delivering higher long-term returns. Since the 1970s, silver and gold prices have dramatically increased, but their roles in the economy and their long-term performance are very different.
Governments and investors view gold as a store of value, and central banks hold large gold reserves to protect their economies against global inflation or geopolitical crises. It's also widely used to produce jewelry.
Silver is much more abundant in supply than gold, but it also has more uses. Silver plays a significant role in manufacturing and industrial production; companies use silver to make solar panels, electronics, and medical devices. The industrial demand can affect silver's prices, causing more drastic changes.
Price of silver chart
Whether you’re tracking the price of silver since last month or last year, the price-of-silver chart below shows the precious metal’s value journey so far this year.
Silvercorp Metals (TSX: SVM) capped its fiscal 2026 with a record setting fourth quarter, as a near doubling in silver prices propelled the company to its strongest top line result on record.
Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2026 came in at $147.4 million, up 96% year over year and a notable step up from the $126.1 million booked in the prior quarter. Mine operating earnings surged 282% to $100.0 million. The realized silver price of $78.56 per ounce was behind the record performance, the figure was a 183% jump from Q4 fiscal 2025 and a sharp acceleration from the $49.00 per ounce realized in Q3.
Adjusted net income attributable to shareholders climbed to a record $59.3 million, or $0.27 per share, versus $14.7 million, or $0.07 per share, a year earlier. Q3 adjusted earnings, for reference, came in at $47.9 million, or $0.22 per share. Adjusted EBITDA also set a record at $98.1 million.
A reported net loss of $0.7 million muddied the picture, but that was driven by a $60.4 million non-cash mark-to-market charge tied to convertible note derivative liabilities, an issue the company addressed during the quarter by removing the cash settlement option to avoid future P&L volatility.
Cash flow from operating activities reached $90.2 million in Q4, with free cash flow of $57.9 million. The company closed the quarter with $422.3 million in cash and short term investments.
For the full fiscal year, Silvercorp reported revenue of $438.1 million, up 47%, and adjusted net income of $150.8 million, or $0.69 per share, double the prior year. Operating cash flow more than doubled to $310.6 million, while free cash flow tripled to $181.3 million. The annual realized silver price averaged $46.44 per ounce.
On the production side, Q4 output totaled roughly 1.5 million ounces of silver, 2,492 ounces of gold, 13.6 million pounds of lead, and 3.9 million pounds of zinc. Cash cost per ounce of silver, net of by-product credits, was negative $1.92, a meaningful improvement from $2.49 a year earlier as more mechanized shrinkage mining took hold. All-in sustaining costs came in at $17.35 per ounce, up 21% on higher taxes linked to revenue and elevated sustaining capex.
Full-year production totalled 6.8 million ounces of silver and 8,723 ounces of gold, with cash cost of negative $0.94 per ounce and an AISC of $14.25.
Silvercorp Metals last traded at $17.25 on the TSX.
Information for this story was found via the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
https://thedeepdive.ca/silvercorp-closes-out-fiscal-2026-with-record-topline-revenue/
MP Materials (NYSE: MP) has issued a lawsuit against USA Rare Earth (NASDAQ: USAR) alleging that its rare earth mining rival stole its proprietary magnet technology through an ex-employee, Bloomberg reported.
According to a lawsuit filed with a Texas court last Friday and seen by Bloomberg, MP said one of its former employees had shared “grain boundary diffusion” formulations with USAR, which later disclosed the information to a third-party technology company.
“USA Rare Earth has exhibited a pattern of recruiting employees from other companies and then using those employees to misappropriate trade secrets to accelerate USA Rare Earth’s own development,” MP alleged in the suit.
In addition, the Las Vegas, Nevada-based miner also claimed USAR had failed on multiple operational milestones and questioned the validity of the mineral resources being touted at the latter's flagship Round Top deposit in Texas.
USAR did not respond to questions regarding the MP lawsuit.
Shares of USA Rare Earth fell over 3% during the early hours of trading, sending its market capitalization below $6 billion. MP Materials also fell 3%, trading at a market capitalization of $11.6 billion.
Key US rare earth players
MP -- the only producer of rare earths in the US -- has developed its own technology to turn the extracted minerals from its Mountain Pass mine in California into permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, defense systems and advanced electronics.
USAR is also looking to follow the same path by developing its Texas deposit, which it calls "the largest heavy rare earth deposit" in the US, and has already commissioned a magnet manufacturing facility in Stillwater, Oklahoma. It also has ambitions to expand abroad through building another plant in France and recently announced a $2.8 billion acquisition of Serra Verde Group, which owns Brazil's only rare earth mine.
Both companies are seen as key players in the US government's plans to establish a domestic rare earth supply chain to reduce its dependence on economic rival China, which controls more than half of the world's mined supply and almost all of its processing. To facilitate this strategy, the Trump administration has made large financial commitments to both, including a $400 million equity investment in MP last July, followed up by a $1.6 billion agreement with USAR this year.
MP's lawsuit places USAR under further scrutiny, as the latter's deal with the White House had already received pushback from lawmakers, while the Serra Verde deal remains under review. USAR, however, has said it is not concerned by questions surrounding the government's investment.
https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/news/mp-materials-accuses-usa-rare-earth-of-magnet-tech-theft/
The mine will produce titanium minerals and rare earth elements including monazite and xenotime.
Australia’s New South Wales state has approved RZ Resources’ A$693 million ($497 million) Copi mineral sands mine project, expected to produce up to 400,000 tonnes of critical mineral ore a year for 18 years.
The Copi project is one of the world's largest critical minerals deposits, and positions RZ Resources to become a globally significant critical minerals producer, the company said, adding that the approval clears a pathway to first production in early 2029.
Located 75 kilometers northwest of Wentworth in far southwestern New South Wales, the mine will produce titanium minerals including rutile, leucoxene and ilmenite, premium zircon, and rare earth elements including monazite and xenotime.
RZ Resources said it has received investment and support for the project from JX Advanced Metals Corporation and Marubeni Corporation.
The project's strategic importance has been formally recognised and received support from the US, Japanese, Indian and Australian Governments including through announcements of US Export–Import Bank (EXIM) financing at the 2025 Quad Leaders' Summit as being of global significance to supply chains serving Australia, the United States, Japan and India.
RZ Resources founder and executive chairman David Fraser said the NSW development approval is a significant step forward in securing first production.
“Receiving NSW development approval for the Copi project is a defining moment for RZ Resources, for the Wentworth community, and for Australia's critical minerals sector,” Fraser said in a news release.
“Copi is a globally significant critical minerals opportunity that will help Australia and its allies secure supply chains for the materials that underpin energy, manufacturing and defence.”
The project will create up to 480 direct jobs during construction, transitioning to a 240-strong operational workforce.
RZ Resources also owns the mineral separation plant on the Brisbane River, the only major mineral processing facility of its kind on Australia's east coast.
By Alex Kimani - May 27, 2026, 7:00 PM CDT
Two weeks ago, U.S. President Donald Trump paid a visit to Beijing for a high-level summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, with a view to stabilizing bilateral trade, securing new business deals, and seeking China's diplomatic leverage to help manage the conflict in Iran. Trump traveled with a delegation of high-level American CEOs to encourage China to open its markets to U.S. tech companies, and managed to secure several multibillion-dollar deals. The summit yielded a modest tactical detente and improved diplomatic normalcy between the two rival powers, with the White House reporting that Xi remains opposed to the militarization of the Strait of Hormuz. However, Trump’s visit had a glaring failure: the discussions in Beijing did not result in a formal agreement or long-term trade truce concerning China’s easing of rare earths export restrictions.
Still, China “can ground America’s drone fleet with a single phone call”, according to an opinion piece this week in American military publication Stars and Stripes. Back in November, Beijing reaffirmed that broad export restrictions introduced earlier, such as the outright bans on rare earth extraction/separation technology and the specific volume controls on select critical minerals like tungsten, bismuth, antimony, as well as various medium- to heavy-rare-earth elements, remain fully in effect. China did pause the sweeping, second-wave controls that had mandated export licenses for foreign entities and products containing trace amounts of Chinese-origin rare earth materials, it had announced in October 2025–but only for one year.
And now, an analysis by Fitch Group's BMI Research notes that Xi’s team only promised to address U.S. supply shortage concerns without providing concrete structural extensions or policy adjustments during the latest meeting.
Chinese shipments of highly critical "heavy" rare earths remain drastically suppressed despite the one-year respite, with dysprosium, terbium, and yttrium exports currently running at just 41%, 49%, and 42% of pre-restriction levels, respectively. Worryingly, the price of yttrium has skyrocketed 15-fold due to acute shortages stemming from China's export rules, triggering severe disruptions across the U.S. aerospace and semiconductor industries where the mineral acts as a vital protective and thermal coating. China accounts for ~70% of U.S.’ yttrium supply, as well as 100% of its terbium, holmium, and lutetium.
China’s rare earths hegemony has sent the United States and its Western peers scrambling for alternative supplies.
Back in July, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) agreed to purchase $400 million in preferred stock in MP Materials (NYSE:MP), making the Pentagon the company's largest shareholder with an equity stake of roughly 15%. The agreement includes a 10-year offtake contract with a price floor, ensuring that MP Materials' output goes directly to defense and commercial customers to secure domestic supply chain independence. MP Materials is utilizing this capital and an additional $1 billion in commercial debt from JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs to build the "10X Facility," a massive rare earth magnet manufacturing campus located in Northlake, Texas.
Around the same time, USA Rare Earth (NYSE:USAR) signed a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) with the U.S. Department of Commerce to access $1.6 billion in government funding, which will be drawn from a finance facility created under the CHIPS and Science Act. The funding package consists of a proposed $1.3 billion senior secured loan and $277 million in federal funding. The company will also issue a 10% equity stake (and warrants for additional shares) to the U.S. government. The investment will fast-track the mining, processing, and refining of heavy rare earth elements at their Round Top deposit in Sierra Blanca, Texas, with commercial production anticipated to begin in 2028.
REalloys (NASDAQ:ALOY) is also positioning itself within the emerging Western rare earth supply chain through a series of agreements tied to heavy rare earth processing and metallization capacity in North America. The company has secured long-term supply agreements with the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) for neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), dysprosium, and terbium output, while funding upgrades to SRC’s processing facility in Saskatoon and developing a heavy rare earth metallization platform in Ohio focused on producing defense-grade metals and alloys. REalloys has also signed feedstock agreements tied to the Tanbreez project in Greenland and the Sheep Creek rare earth deposit in Montana as part of a broader mine-to-magnet strategy targeting U.S. defense and industrial markets.
Meanwhile, Europe is bypassing China's near-monopoly on rare earths through the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), which caps single-country dependency. The bloc is investing heavily in domestic extraction, processing, and recycling, shortlisting strategic projects and signing resource partnerships with Western-allied nations. Recognizing the vulnerability of supply chains, the European Commission is implementing coordinated defense strategies through initiatives such as RESourceEU Action Plan, an initiative backed by up to €3 billion in funding that coordinates demand aggregation, supply stress tests, and the joint purchasing of critical minerals among member states. The CRMA also mandates that at least 25% of the EU's strategic raw materials come from recycled waste by 2030.
European automakers and tech manufacturers are also increasingly designing products that bypass rare earths altogether. For instance, manufacturers are pivoting to magnet-free motors, including synchronous reluctance motors and induction motors, which eliminate the need for neodymium-based permanent magnets in electric vehicles.
Vietnam has officially surpassed Italy to become one of the workd's top 10 steel producers.
The World Steel Association (Worldsteel) has released its latest rankings of the world’s largest crude steel producers, marking the first time Vietnam has secured a position in the global Top 10.
According to Worldsteel’s estimates for April 2026, Vietnam’s crude steel output reached 2.1 million tons, a 4% increase compared to the same period last year. With this achievement, Vietnam has officially surpassed Italy to become one of the world's top 10 steel producers.
For the first four months of the year, Vietnam’s total crude steel production reached 8.5 million tons, up 8.4% over the same period in 2025.
The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) highlighted that the industry has undergone a major transformation in both production scale and product diversity. In 2000, domestic steel mills were largely dependent on imported billets for construction steel. However, over the past decade, and particularly since 2010, the industry has made remarkable strides toward self-sufficiency.
Today, Vietnamese steel enterprises are capable of manufacturing a comprehensive range of products to meet all economic sectors, including mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, energy (wind power and oil rigs), and the defense industry.
Vietnam’s ascent in the global rankings has been steady and rapid. In 2023, the country ranked 12th worldwide with a crude steel output of 20 million tons. By 2025, production rose to 24.6 million tons, making Vietnam the largest producer in Southeast Asia and the 11th largest globally, before officially breaking into the Top 10 this year.
https://en.vneconomy.vn/vietnam-enters-worlds-top-10-steel-producers.htm
According to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the United States imported 5.12 million short tons of rolled steel products in January–April 2026, a 30.5% decrease compared to the same period in 2025.
Total steel imports, including rolled products and semi-finished products, amounted to 6.97 million tons, down 29.5% year-over-year.
The largest share of rolled steel imports for the period was accounted for by products for the oil industry—419,370 metric tons (-43% year-over-year), rebar—419,650 metric tons (+7.9% year-over-year), cold-rolled coils – 391,060 tons (-37.6% y/y), and heavy sections – 401,970 tons (+32.1% y/y).
The largest suppliers of steel to the U.S. in January–April were South Korea – 1.17 million tons (+22.6% y/y), Canada – 996,000 tons (-51.6% y/y), Brazil – 930,000 tons (-47.1% y/y), and Mexico – 738,000 tons (-43.1% y/y).
In April, 1.38 million tons of rolled steel were imported into the U.S. from abroad, an increase of 5.5% compared to the previous month. Total steel imports rose by 5.9% m/m – to 1.87 million tons. Among the most imported products: heavy sections – 127,870 tons (+27% m/m), rebar – 114,100 tons (+45.9% m/m), cold-rolled coils – 115,680 tons (+39.4% m/m), wire rod – 105,680 tons (+0.6% m/m).
Canada shipped 268,000 tons of products to the U.S. over the month (-6% MoM), Brazil – 215,000 tons (-26.1% MoM), South Korea – 291,000 tons (-0.4% m/m), and Mexico – 187,000 tons (+33.3% m/m).
As reported by GMK Center, in 2025, the United States had reduced its imports of rolled steel by 17.1% year-on-year, to 18.66 million short tons. Total steel imports (finished products and semi-finished products) amounted to 25.24 million tons, down 12.6% year-on-year. Finished steel products accounted for 18% of total imports last year.
https://gmk.center/en/news/the-us-reduced-imports-of-rolled-steel-by-30-5-y-y-in-january-april/amp/
