Beijing’s April export controls on seven rare earth elements, followed by a now-suspended October expansion covering additional REEs, magnets and lithium battery materials, have forced Western buyers to reroute critical minerals via longer, chokepoint-heavy sea lanes such as the Red Sea and primary canals. Trading houses including BGN Group, Traxys and Gerald Group are acting as integrated maritime logistics platforms, combining shallow, infrastructure-poor African and Latin American load ports with highly automated deepwater hubs using mixed fleets of smaller bulk, multipurpose and VLGC-capable vessels. Global container lines like Maersk and Evergreen, which has ordered 14 LNG dual-fuel containerships for Asia–Europe, now directly influence lead times, freight costs and emissions for lithium chemicals, magnet alloys and battery intermediates moving to refineries and OEMs in Europe, North America and allied Asia.

Weir is acquiring the remaining 50% of its Chile-based joint venture ESCO Elecmetal Fundición Limitada from Elecmetal for £56 million ($75 million), giving it full control of a foundry built in 2012 that supplies ground engaging tools to the South American mining sector. The deal, expected to close in Q1 2026, adds Chilean casting capacity into Weir’s global foundry network and supports its go-direct sales strategy in the region. For mine operators, this signals tighter OEM integration on wear parts supply for large copper operations in Chile and neighbouring markets.

Teck Resources has taken a 9.9% equity stake in Metal Energy by purchasing about 4.44 million flow-through shares at C$0.73 and 6.2 million common shares at C$0.45, matching Centerra Gold’s earlier 9.9% position. The financing lifts Metal Energy’s market capitalisation to roughly C$23 million after its share price jumped to C$0.80, about 60% above pre-Centerra levels. Proceeds will fund drilling in 2026 on fully permitted, drill-ready porphyry targets at the 215 km² NIV copper-gold-molybdenum property in British Columbia’s Toodoggone district.