After a decade of stable or rising prices, several minerals and metals prices have recently experienced sharp declines. This is especially true for critical minerals for the energy transition, raising concerns about how price declines will affect the revenues of mineral-rich countries. For example, the prices of aluminum, cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel, and platinum have all seen significant price declines recently.<\/p>\n
These price drops are largely the result of significant increases in supply relative to the pace of demand growth, particularly at the processing stage of the value chain.<\/p>\n
The severity of the price drops has prompted several mining companies to cut costs by slowing down<\/a> or suspending<\/a> production\u2014and even consider shutting down mines<\/a> in some cases. The prospect of a sector slowdown is putting significant pressure on mineral-rich governments to react. For example, due to the drop in nickel prices, the Government of Western Australia recently offered a 50% rebate on royalties paid on nickel sales from March 2024 to June 2025 under its Nickel Financial Assistance Program<\/a>.<\/p>\nRecent critical mineral price declines<\/h4>\n