Commodities Innovation Forum Mining + Metals 2026: key insights
8 July 2026
Clifford Chance hosted the 2026 New York Commodities Innovation Forum: Mining + Metals on June 17, 2026.
The global critical minerals sector is entering a new phase of strategic importance, driven by the intersection of energy transition, AI infrastructure, defence modernisation and geopolitical competition. The growing urgency of developing resilient US and allied supply chains for critical minerals is creating investment opportunities across the entire value chain. However, significant challenges remain, particularly in midstream processing, refining and other downstream capabilities, which continue to represent key bottlenecks to supply chain development.
A key theme emerging across the market is the increasingly active role of governments in shaping critical minerals supply chains. In the United States, public sector support now extends well beyond traditional regulation and incentives, with agencies acting as lenders, co-investors and strategic offtake counterparties across mining, processing and manufacturing operations. At the same time, China continues to dominate critical minerals supply chains, with long-term industrial policy, export controls and strategic investment continuing to reinforce its position and create competitive challenges for OECD producers.
Financing and investment models are also evolving. As developers seek to overcome bankability challenges associated with commodity price volatility and limited reference pricing for certain minerals, new structures are emerging, including sovereign-backed offtake arrangements, price support mechanisms and long-term contracts with high-credit counterparties. Against this backdrop, international partnerships are becoming increasingly important, with growing collaboration between the US, Japan, Korea, Australia and other allied markets helping to accelerate investment, strengthen supply chains and unlock new opportunities across the critical minerals value chain.
In this briefing we highlight the key takeaways from the event.
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