Uzbekistan and Jordan Agree on Uranium and Mineral Exploration
Uzbekistan and Jordan have signed agreements to cooperate in exploring uranium, copper, rare metals, and other critical mineral deposits....
Shipments of antimony to the United States have jumped to more than 3,800 tonnes in five months via Thailand and Mexico, customs data show, as buyers find back-door routes around Beijing’s export ban on critical minerals bound for the U.S.
Unusually large cargoes of antimony oxides began arriving in American ports in December, days after China barred direct exports of the battery- and chip-making metal to the U.S.
Reuters analysis of official customs figures shows 3,834 tonnes entered from Thailand and Mexico between December and April—exceeding almost the previous three years combined.
Trade records reviewed by Reuters link most of the Thai volumes to Unipet Industries, a subsidiary of Chinese producer Youngsun Chemicals. Unipet shipped about 3,366 tonnes of antimony products to the U.S. in that period, roughly 27 times the year-earlier level. The declared buyer was Texas-based Youngsun & Essen, which had previously sourced material direct from China. None of the companies responded to requests for comment.
Neither Thailand nor Mexico mines meaningful quantities of antimony and each has only a single smelter, according to consultancy RFC Ambrian. Their sudden prominence—both leapt into the top three destinations for Chinese antimony exports this year—points to trans-shipment, said industry analysts.
“The pattern is consistent with Chinese suppliers relabelling goods en route to avoid licensing rules,” said Ram Ben Tzion of shipment-vetting platform Publican.
China’s commerce ministry has acknowledged that “overseas entities” are colluding with domestic actors to dodge the controls, vowing tougher penalties that can include prison terms of more than five years for serious smuggling offences. The ministry did not reply to Reuters questions.
U.S. law does not prohibit American companies from buying the minerals if they come indirectly from China.
Executives at two U.S. firms told Reuters they continue to receive gallium supplied through third countries, with shipments sometimes relabelled as iron, zinc or even art supplies to escape scrutiny.
Beijing’s challenge now is to enforce its export-control regime without undermining its own refiners, who risk losing market share if global buyers embed alternative channels according to experts. “Policy is the easy part; policing is much harder,” Ben Tzion said.
AnewZ has learned that India has once again blocked Azerbaijan’s application for full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, while Pakistan’s recent decision to consider diplomatic relations with Armenia has been coordinated with Baku as part of Azerbaijan’s peace agenda.
A day of mourning has been declared in Portugal to pay respect to victims who lost their lives in the Lisbon Funicular crash which happened on Wednesday evening.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
A U.S. citizen has been released from Kabul after a senior U.S. delegation led by Adam Boehler, the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, met with Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul.
The Warsaw Security Forum is kicking off in Poland on Monday, bringing together defence ministers, security experts, and international policymakers to discuss pressing global security challenges.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned on Monday that Europe cannot afford a war with Russia, but if its leaders were to trigger one, it could spiral into a conflict involving weapons of mass destruction.
Sweden will support Denmark with military anti-drone capabilities in connection with summits in Copenhagen this week, after drone sightings last week forced Denmark to shut several airports, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Monday.
Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul met in Warsaw on Monday (29 September) within the Weimar Triangle framework.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment