Critical minerals: The new oil
Barclays Brief25 Nov 2025

Critical minerals: The new oil

As technological advancement continues at pace across AI, defence and everything in between, demand for critical minerals such as rare earth elements (REEs) and copper, lithium, aluminium, nickel and cobalt (collectively known as CLANCs) has skyrocketed. Yet their supply is incredibly concentrated, making access a high stakes priority for many economies. China has invested heavily over recent decades in everything from mineral processing plants to STEM graduates and has become the dominant supplier of critical minerals.

With spot prices recently trebling amidst trade tensions and defence spending increases, countries in the West are balancing the need for immediate access to existing supplies with a strategic, longer-term pivot to build out mine-to-magnet processing.

In this episode of the Barclays Brief, Ronnie Wexler is joined by Zornitsa Todorova, Head of Thematic FICC Research, to discuss why critical minerals are set to become a defining market theme for 2026. They break down why critical minerals are the ‘new oil’, what's driving current market volatility and what the future of supply could look like.

Listeners can hear more on this topic:

Talent and trade: the new battlegrounds in AI

Q1 2026 Global Outlook: As goes AI...

Clients can read more on Barclays Live:

Critical Minerals: the magnetic pull of rare earths

2025 Equity Gilt Study - Minerals and minds

Q1 2026 Global Outlook: As goes AI...

Important Research Content Disclosures

Important Non-Research Content Disclosures


Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(52)

Negative headlines, resilient markets

Negative headlines, resilient markets

Markets have spent much of 2026 confronting higher bond yields, tighter central bank policy and elevated oil prices. By historical standards, that should have been enough to derail growth. Instead, ma...

30 Sep 12min

Trump-Xi: Stability without resolution

Trump-Xi: Stability without resolution

The recent summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping brought greater stability to US-China relations, but little substantive resolution. Continued dialogue and an extension of the trade tr...

29 Sep 12min

Pacing the Frontier: What’s next for AI?

Pacing the Frontier: What’s next for AI?

As AI models become increasingly capable, questions around safety and oversight are growing. Recent cybersecurity incidents have intensified the debate over whether frontier AI development needs to sl...

21 Sep 13min

US Rates: Higher for longer

US Rates: Higher for longer

Markets began 2026 expecting interest rate cuts. Instead, investors have faced a sharp repricing in bond markets, with the US 10-year Treasury yield reaching 5% and growing debate around whether polic...

14 Sep 10min

The Multi-Trillion-Dollar Energy Race

The Multi-Trillion-Dollar Energy Race

Markets are fixating on the billions being invested in AI. But a second massive investment story related to energy is emerging and investors need to pay attention.In this episode of Barclays Brief, ho...

8 Sep 11min

European equities heat up

European equities heat up

European equities have been one of the standout market stories of the year. Despite trade tensions, geopolitical uncertainty and persistent questions about growth, the region has delivered unexpectedl...

1 Sep 11min

Nuclear fusion: Tomorrow's solution to today's problem​

Nuclear fusion: Tomorrow's solution to today's problem​

Nuclear fusion has long been viewed as a transformational energy breakthrough, capable of delivering abundant, zero-carbon at operation energy by recreating the same reaction that powers the sun. Rece...

18 Aug 12min

Japan: Why the world is watching

Japan: Why the world is watching

Little more than a week ago, a rare, coordinated US-Japan intervention to support the yen caught investors’ attention. Coupled with rising expectations of another Bank of Japan (BoJ) rate hike and Pri...

11 Aug 10min

Populært innen Business og økonomi

stopp-verden
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
e24-podden
rss-skravla-gar
rss-borsmorgen-okonominyhetene
rss-pa-konto
finansredaksjonen
pengepodden-2
pengesnakk
livet-pa-veien-med-jan-erik-larssen
utbytte
lederpodden
liberal-halvtime
rss-orjasater
okonomiamatorene
morgenkaffen-med-finansavisen
tid-er-penger-en-podcast-med-peter-warren
rss-markedspuls-2
rss-impressions-2