General Discussions, page-25950

I’m glad you picked up on the ‘heavy lifting’ aspect of the discussion.

I think the west has taken it for granted that China will always be able to supply them in a meaningful way. However, this really is a consequence of decades of reliance on China to do much of the heavy lifting and now they may feel overstretched. To supply cheap defunct of ESG critical minerals as well as for their own needs is asking for a bit much and quite rude to be frank. Plus they have their own environmental concerns, see @Topo post: Unlocking the Mystery Behind China’s Graphite Export Curbs

Whether it’s the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the IRA, European or other Australian initiatives these are just background noise to what really is at stake – resilience and a guarantee of supply in the face of pestilence and growing geopolitical concerns. The just-in-time-economy is long known to be ineffectual and exposed its flaws during the pandemic.

Now, China has said enough is enough.The global impact will see a tightening of supply leading to increased graphite prices. Also, China’s prices will most likely increase as their government focuses on environmental protection which was always unsustainable.

Furthermore, our PM Albanese and Resources Minister Madeline King is due to make a call on our critical minerals strategy. They are both going to be in the US this week. Could be an ideal opportunity to spark additional incentives in this space?

All IMO, DYOR, GLTA(patient)H