Insights
Analysis on strategic materials, markets, and the technologies they enable.
From pricing dynamics to supply chain shifts, we publish briefings that help operators, investors, and policy teams move with confidence.
Yttrium: Properties, Industrial Uses and Supply Chain Risk
**Yttrium’s 2024‑2025 risk profile is driven less by geological scarcity than by the split between oxide‑dominated high‑volume uses and tightly constrained metal production. This analysis maps the physical properties, processing routes, and global supply nodes that define those constraints, clarifying where technical specifications, ESG regulation, and geopolitical controls combine to create operational bottlenecks across electronics, [...]
1 min readMyanmar’s Rare Earths: China’s Hidden Heavy Rare Earth Supply Chain
**Myanmar’s ionic clay deposits in conflict-affected Kachin State now provide roughly half or more of China’s heavy rare earth element (HREE) inputs, while China retains an estimated 99% share of global HREE separation capacity as of 2023.[3][4] This creates a compounded “double chokepoint”: upstream exposure to Myanmar’s civil war and non-state armed control over mines, [...]
1 min readUS Defense Production Act and Critical Minerals: What Is Actually Changing
**US Defense Production Act (DPA) powers have shifted from an emergency tool for munitions to a structural instrument for rebuilding critical mineral supply chains. In practice, DPA funding and priority authorities are reshaping midstream rare earth and battery-material processing far more than greenfield mining, with execution constrained by permitting, technology risk, and contractor capacity rather [...]
1 min readNdFeB Magnets and the Energy Transition: Supply Chain Risks 2025–2026
**NdFeB magnets sit at the core of EV traction motors and direct‑drive wind turbines, but from 2024-2026 the mine‑to‑motor chain is defined less by geology than by processing and alloy bottlenecks. Heavy rare earth separation (Dy/Tb), ferroboron availability, and an overwhelmingly China‑centric magnet manufacturing base are setting the practical ceiling on how fast the energy [...]
1 min readThe F-35 Problem: 418kg of Chinese Rare Earths Per Fighter Jet
Introduction: Why the F‑35 Rare Earth Chain Matters The F‑35 issue is not abstract for anyone who has spent time inside defense supply chains. A few years ago, a temporary halt in F‑35 deliveries over a single magnet containing Chinese-origin alloy exposed just how brittle a multi-billion-dollar aerospace program can be when a small, specialized [...]
1 min readLithium in 2025: Oversupply, Price Collapse and China’s Refining Lock
Lithium has flipped in a short period from headlines about scarcity and price spikes to talk of glut and “winter” for battery metals. For supply, procurement and compliance teams, the concern is less the label on the cycle and more the combination of risks: compliance with emerging rules such as the US Inflation Reduction Act [...]
1 min readCritical Materials Recycling: The EU’s 15% CRMA Target Assessed
Concern around the 15% recycling benchmark in the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) does not come from abstract sustainability debates. It comes from very concrete moments: magnet and battery suppliers suddenly unable to ship after export control announcements, board‑level calls triggered by rare earth price spikes, and compliance teams scrambling to interpret new traceability [...]
1 min readThe DRC Cobalt Paradox: 75% of Global Supply, No Pricing Power
Cobalt policy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sits at the intersection of supply security, regulatory risk, and reputational exposure. In every battery-metal procurement cycle I have seen, cobalt has been the line item that triggered the most board-level anxiety: one jurisdiction overwhelmingly dominates mined supply, yet the levers that actually set the market-refining, [...]
1 min readEU CRMA vs China Export Controls: Two Regulatory Systems, One Supply Chain
In critical raw materials, the pressure is no longer abstract. In recent procurement cycles, I have seen battery and magnet projects stall because a single licensed Chinese component could not ship, while EU projects that met every technical requirement still waited on permits. Board-level risk committees have started asking blunt questions: not about margin, but [...]
1 min readBreaking China’s Midstream Lock: The Case for Critical Materials Processing Diversification
Key Takeaways China processes over 90% of global rare earth elements (REE), 85% of graphite and more than 80% of battery-grade lithium, cobalt and nickel chemicals. Four decades of state-subsidized…
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The 24-Month Constraint: Why Switching Rare Earth Suppliers Takes Two Years
Boards must plan for 24-36 month lead times in rare earth sourcing as permitting, construction and downstream qualification delay supplier switching far…
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Graphite: The 99% Anode Chokepoint Quietly Reshaping EV Supply Chains
We map the 2024–2028 graphite bottleneck: concentrated midstream processing, policy shocks and the handful of plants that will determine Western EV anode…