Australia considering price floor to support critical minerals projects, Minister says
MELBOURNE - Australia is considering setting a price floor to support critical minerals projects, including rare earths, Resources Minister Madeleine King said, in comments that led to a jump in share prices for Australian-listed rare earths miners.
Australia has been positioning itself as an alternative source of critical minerals to dominant producer China for use in sectors such as the automotive industry and defence.
But prices for some metals like rare earths have been too low to fund processing capacity in Western nations, meaning that China has remained the world's dominant supplier.
"Pricing certainty means companies and investors are less exposed to volatile markets and prices, which are opaque and prone to manipulation," King said in a statement first reported by the Australian newspaper on Monday evening.
Australia's policy of building a strategic reserve aims to provide price certainty for emerging critical minerals projects such as heavy rare earths, she said.
"Mechanisms for an appropriate price floor are under active consideration," she added.
Shares in Australian producer Lynas Rare Earths rallied more than 6% while shares in Iluka Resources and Arafura Rare Earths were both up more than 8% on Tuesday.
US rare earths producer MP Materials last month unveiled a multibillion-dollar deal with the US government to boost output of rare earth magnets and help loosen China's grip on the materials used to build weapons, electric vehicles and many electronics.
That pricing deal, which offered a minimum price floor that a buyer would pay, was set to have global implications, analysts said at the time. The move was positive for producers, but could increase costs for consumers such as automakers and in turn for their customers, analysts said.
Comments
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Established in 1982, Invincible Valves is a medium-sized enterprise in Germiston, serving global and local markets.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Goodwin Submersible Pumps Africa is sole distributors for Goodwin electrically driven, submersible, abrasion resistance slurry pumps.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
