The global economy is witnessing intense and ongoing competition to secure vital minerals.
From Washington’s proposed $12 billion “Project Volt” to create reserve reserves, to expanding reserves in Asia and the European Union, governments are aggressively seeking to secure access to minerals that have become essential to national security and industrial policies.
“The new storage wave is clearly evident in the metals sector,” said Patrick Schröder, principal researcher at Chatham House.
He added that governments are trying to reduce their dependence on concentrated supply chains and are imposing restrictions on exports.
Towards flexible supply chains.. India and Brazil sign an agreement on rare earths
“Volt” project
In the United States, officials recently announced the Volt Project, a strategic mineral reserve worth about $12 billion.
This initiative aims to enhance the resilience of US industry supply chains by building stocks of rare earth elements and other essential metals needed for electricity, defense and advanced manufacturing, according to CNBC.
The Vault project complements other initiatives such as the Forum for Geo-Strategic Resource Engagement (FORGE), a partnership to coordinate pricing policies for critical minerals and projects, as well as Pax Silica, which focuses on AI-related supply chain protection.
Last January, Australia announced plans to formalize a state-backed rare earth storage strategy through an $800 million strategic reserve of critical minerals, prioritizing antimony, gallium and rare earth elements.
The European Union is also continuing its plans to create a joint reserve of vital raw materials under its RESourceEU strategy.
Italy, France and Germany are expected to lead the effort, according to Reuters, in a report published earlier this month citing informed sources.
At the end of last week, India and Brazil agreed to enhance cooperation in the field of vital minerals and rare earth elements, as part of New Delhi’s endeavor to diversify sources of supply and reduce dependence on China.
The agreement aims to boost bilateral trade and build more resilient supply chains for critical materials for the clean energy, technology and defense industries.
Earlier this year, South Korea launched a comprehensive critical minerals strategy backed by about $172 million in government support. Under this strategy, the government plans to expand stock sizes and infrastructure.
“We are definitely seeing a shift toward a more nationalistic resource mindset in many countries,” Schroeder said. “At this point, it becomes a slippery slope, and strategic storage may turn into a monopoly when measures become coercive, lack transparency, and are weaponized.”
This strategic shift represents what many analysts describe as a structural shift in commodity policy.
“Metal supply chains are fragile,” said ING Bank expert Eva Manthey, pointing to years of underinvestment, long licensing periods and geographic concentration.
She added that higher prices in previous cycles typically stimulated increased mine production and reduced the need for strategic stockpiles.
“Today, even with rising prices, new supplies are slow and uncertain, so the stockpiles themselves have become part of the supply strategy,” Manthey added, describing this trend as having a clear “nationalism.”
Natalie Scott-Gray, senior metals analyst at Stone
China dominates the processing of rare earth elements and controls a large share of global refining capacity for industrial minerals.
Even in cases where reserves are geographically dispersed, processing operations often remain concentrated.
The International Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that the high concentration of critical mineral supply chains in one country poses security vulnerabilities.
The agency explained that China’s controls on rare earth exports, announced last year, have created significant national security and economic risks globally, with potentially serious consequences for key sectors such as energy, automotive, defence, aerospace, artificial intelligence and semiconductors.
Inventories have historically served as emergency reserves to weather temporary disruptions or sudden price spikes, unlike the current situation, industry observers said.
Current storage initiatives, Schroeder explained, are more clearly driven by the need to hedge against geopolitical factors, reflecting a broader shift in how resource security is framed as an industrial and national security strategy, rather than simply crisis management.
“This cycle of building metal stocks is different from previous cycles,” said Anushree Ganerwala, global analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
She added: “Previous commodity cycles were largely driven by traditional supply and demand imbalances or climate shocks. Now, the situation is different, as policies and geopolitical risks directly shape market outcomes.”
For its part, Goldman Sachs in February described the recent rise in demand for gold and industrial metals as “insurance-type demand.”
Analysts expect the pace of government storage to accelerate, especially for minerals used in the energy transition and defense.
“We are still in the early stages of this,” Scott-Gray said. “Governments are now treating rare earth supply chains as national security infrastructure, not just purely commercial flows.” (Al Ain)
