The Global Insight - Critical minerals, slow business: making sense of the down-cycle

Critical minerals are a hot topic right now, but most people don’t realise how truly critical they are until there is a restriction on their use. Critical minerals drive AI, the cloud, the energy transition – but they also power our phones, keep the lights on, the dishwasher running. The US defines critical minerals as those which serve an essential function in one or more energy technology, and which are at high risk of supply chain disruption. Securing access to them is existential.  

Claudine Fry, Director of Control Risks’ Global Issues team, chats with Stephen Norris, a Partner in Control Risks’ Tokyo office, to discuss the current critical minerals down-cycle, geopolitical dynamics, and how he anticipates regulation and investment in the sector will evolve.

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