US DOE to Invest $500M in Domestic Critical Minerals and Battery Materials Production

Recent trends in Asian scrap copper markets are diverging: China’s Bare Bright copper import discount rate have climbed to 98%-98.5% due to tight tax-inclusive copper scrap supply, pushing Japanese quotes up by 1 percentage point to similar levels via strong market linkage. Conversely, South Korea remains stable at 97.5%-98% due to high domestic inventories level. According to feedback from local downstream enterprises, high domestic inventory levels mean current procurement discount rate are expected to remain unchanged through the second quarter,

Indian recycling company Gravita India has agreed to acquire Rashtriya Metal Industries to expand its copper and copper-alloy recycling operations. The deal, valued at around ₹559 crore, will allow the company to move further into copper alloy production using scrap materials. Analysts say the acquisition reflects the rapid expansion of India’s secondary copper industry.

A U.S. startup called Valor is developing electrochemical liquid extraction technology to recover copper and other metals from ores and electronic waste. The process aims to reduce energy use and pollution compared with conventional smelting. The company plans to build its first commercial facility in Houston.