Australia's ASM sees jump in rare earths enquiries amid supply shortage
The critical metals producer's Korean Metals Plant is one of the few facilities outside of China with the capability to commercially produce rare earth metals and alloys.
Shares of the company rose as much as 29.1% to A$0.655 to hit a more than 3-week high in early trade before paring some gains. The broader benchmark index edged 0.1% lower.
ASM has concluded purchase orders from U.S.-based Noveon Magnetics and Vacuumschmelze, owned by private equity firm ARA partners, for the supply of rare earth alloys, it said in a statement.
The company is progressing discussions with parties for further sales of a range of rare earth metals amid ongoing talks around future supply with USA Rare Earths, after providing rare earth samples to the firm.
It also completed delivery of 19-metric-ton rare earth metal sale to Magnequench, a division of Canada-based Neo Performance Materials (NEO.TO), opens new tab.
China, which accounts for about 90% of global rare-earth production, imposed export restrictions in April on the strategic minerals in response to tariffs introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump.
With increased disruptions to the rare earth supply due to China's export restrictions, the company is positioned to provide alternative supply to the rest of the world, it said.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Box, run, crash: China's humanoid robot games show advances and limitations
A quick left hook, a front kick to the chest, a few criss-cross jabs, and the crowd cheers. But it is not kickboxing prowess that concludes the match. It is an attempted roundhouse kick that squarely misses its target, sending the kickboxer from a top university team tumbling to the floor. While traditional kickboxing comes with the risk of blood, sweat and serious head injuries, the competitors in Friday's match at the inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing faced a different set of challenges. Balance, battery life and a sense of philosophical purpose being among them. The kickboxers, pint-sized humanoid robots entered by teams from leading Chinese technological universities, are part of a jamboree of humanoid events taking place at China's latest technology event. After spectators in the 12,000-seater National Speed Skating Oval, built for the 2022 Winter Olympics, stood for the Chinese national anthem on Friday morning, the government-backed games began. 'I came here out of curiosity,' said Hong Yun, a 58-year-old retired engineer, sat in the front row. Seeing the robots race was 'much more exciting than seeing real humans', Hong added. The games put on display China's prowess in humanoid robotics, a technological field that has been pushed to the forefront of the country's artificial intelligence industry. The hype machine is in full swing. As well as kickboxing, humanoids participated in athletics, football and dance competitions. One robot had to drop out of the 1500-metre because its head flew off partway round the course. 'Keeping [the head] balanced while in movement is the biggest challenge for us,' said Wang Ziyi, a 19-year-old student from Beijing Union University, who was part of the team that entered the robot. Ever since a troupe of humanoid dancing robots took the stage at the 2025 Spring Festival Gala, a televised lunar new year's celebration viewed nearly 17bn times online, Beijing has been enthusiastically pushing the adoption of 'embodied AI' – an industry that was singled out in this year's government work report in March. The social-media-friendly events reflect a more serious geopolitical reality: an intensifying US-China technological competition that could reshape the frontiers of AI. The technology has become a lightning rod for relations between the two countries. And while the US still has the lead on frontier research, owing in part to Washington's restrictions on the export of cutting-edge chips to China, Beijing is going all-in on real life applications, such as robotics. Several cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, have established 10bn yuan (£1bn) robotics industry funds. In January, the state-owned Bank of China announced plans for a 1tn yuan of financial support to the AI industry over the next five years. 'If there is an area where [Beijing] thinks that China is ahead, or could be positioned as a world leader, then they really want to draw attention to that area,' said Dr Kyle Chan, a researcher at Princeton University. There is something strangely ominous about seeing jerky, human-like robots with two arms, two legs, and blank heads being dragged out of the ring to be recharged by their human handlers. When it comes to humanoids, the Chinese industry has many advantages. Although US companies such as Tesla and Boston Dynamics are still seen as the overall market leaders, several Chinese firms such as UBTech and Unitree Robotics – which supplied the boxing robots in Friday's games – are catching up. Tesla relies on China for many of the parts needed to build the company's physical humanoids. The US investment bank Morgan Stanley estimates that China-based supply chains produce robots at a third of the cost of non-China suppliers. 'It appears to be very difficult to entirely decouple from China in this space,' wrote Sheng Zhong, the bank's head of China industrials research, in a recent note. As well as generating positive publicity on social media, China views humanoids as being part of the solution to the problems created by the country's ageing population and shrinking workforce. A recent article in People's Daily, a mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist party, said robots could offer practical and emotional support for older people. 'The vision of robot-assisted elderly care is not far away,' it said. Humanoid robots could also take the place of employees on factory lines as China tries to retrain and redeploy its workforce into more hi-tech jobs. But for all the hype, there is a big gap between humanoids stumbling over footballs and reliably handling daily tasks. Safely interacting with vulnerable humans would be another leap. 'The home is probably one of the last places you'll ever find a humanoid robot because of safety,' said Chan. 'My general view on the whole humanoid explosion … is honestly a bit of scepticism.' Two of the biggest barriers to the technology being useful outside of PR stunts are the complexity of the human-built environment and the hands needed to navigate it. While other forms of AI, such as large language models, can be trained using reams of digital data, there are much smaller datasets available for training an algorithm on how to walk through crowded restaurants or up and down flights of stairs. Although China's efforts to get robots out into the real world can help companies to harvest more data, it is still a big bottleneck in the industry, Chan said. Dr Jonathan Aitken, a robotics teacher at the University of Sheffield, agreed. 'The state of AI is nowhere near seeing humanoids operating out of uncontrolled environments,' he said. And while robots jumping and kicking looks impressive, mundane daily tasks such as handling a kitchen knife or folding laundry requires dexterous hands, a skill technology companies have yet to crack. A human hand has about 27 'degrees of freedom' – ie, independent movements through space. Tesla's Optimus humanoid, one of the most advanced models on the market, has 22. Still, China has beat the odds before when it comes to turbocharged advances. Just 10 years ago, the country exported fewer than 375,000 cars a year. Now China is the world's biggest automobile supplier, shipping nearly 6m vehicles annually. The European Union has increased tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles in an attempt to stem the flow. In China, the political and public will is firmly behind the humanoids. Zhan Guangtao came to the humanoid games with her two daughters on Friday, after her elder child's school gave them free tickets. 'It's good to have my children in touch with the world's most advanced robotics,' Zhan said. 'Exposing them to hi-tech will broaden their horizons.' Additional research by Lillian Yang
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Indian miner IREL seeks Japan, South Korea partnerships for rare earth magnet production
NEW DELHI, Aug 14 (Reuters) - India's state-owned miner IREL is seeking to collaborate with Japanese and South Korean companies to start commercial production of rare earth magnets, a source familiar with the matter said, as part of efforts to reduce reliance on China. The company is looking at both Japan and South Korea for rare earth processing technology, potentially through government-to-government channels, the source said, declining to be named as the discussions are not public. The miner aims to formalise talks with other countries on rare earth mining and technology partnerships and plans to seek IREL board approval for commercial magnet production this year, the source said. IREL and the Department of Atomic Energy, which oversees the company, did not respond to requests for comment. India currently lacks commercial-scale facilities to refine and separate the full range of rare earth elements to high-purity levels. China, which controls the bulk of global rare earth mining, suspended exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets in April, upending the supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, and semiconductor companies among others that use them. IREL has also approached Toyotsu Rare Earths India, a unit of Japanese trading house Toyota Tsusho (8015.T), opens new tab, to seek help in reaching out to companies in Japan for processing of rare earth materials, the source said. The source said IREL had an initial meeting with Toyotsu to explore whether it could engage Japanese magnet manufacturers, with one proposal involving the possibility of a Japanese company setting up a plant in India. Toyota Tsusho and Toyotsu Rare Earths India did not immediately comment. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, in charge of rare earths, did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comment. In June, Reuters reported that India asked IREL to suspend a 13-year-old rare earth export agreement with Japan to conserve domestic supplies. IREL is prepared to supply rare earth element neodymium oxide to a technology partner, who would then produce the magnets and send them back to India, the source said. The state miner currently has the capacity to produce 400–500 metric tons of neodymium annually, the source said, noting that output could increase depending on the terms of the collaboration. IREL also plans to expand domestic rare earth mining and processing. In India, rare earth mining is restricted to IREL, which supplies the Department of Atomic Energy with materials for nuclear power and defence-related applications. The company is also exploring potential rare earth mining opportunities in Argentina, Australia, Malawi and Myanmar, the source said.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Fed-up locals in 'overcrowded' suburb slam the hundreds of units being built on their doorstep - warning the area is already at breaking point
Sydneysiders living in a suburb set to receive hundreds of new units have voiced their anger at the pressure on their already 'overcrowded' and under-resourced community. Construction giant Meriton has proposed 620 new units in Carlingford, 22km north-west of the CBD, with the first stage under construction promising seven luxury residential towers, soaring to 29 levels. The development on 18 Shirley Street and 263–273 Pennant Hills Road, which boasts the tallest towers in the area, has been met with backlash from locals who feel the area is already overcrowded. Parramatta Council reluctantly supported Meriton's proposal for the new development in 2023, citing fears the area could have lost out on community infrastructure if they didn't back the plans. 'We feel like our hands are tied because we're going to get the developments anyway,' Councillor Michelle Garrard said at the time. Meriton's new development, which temporarily shut down last week after construction worker Paulo Mau'u died on site and another was left fighting for his life, includes plans for a community centre, library and a supermarket. However, locals claim there isn't sufficient infrastructure in the area such as schools and hospitals to support the already overcrowded community. Carlingford resident Claudine told Daily Mail the development is 'driven by money and very little thought'. 'They need to fix the roads first before they start moving more people in, that's the biggest thing,' she said. 'The traffic is already really s**t around here. It would be nice if they had a plan for that too.' She stressed the need for more local schools and hospitals adding: 'I was in hospital recently in ED and there were people waiting for almost 48 hours to be seen because there's too many people.' Young couple James and Amelia voiced their concerns that the new development will be unaffordable for local families. One-bedroom apartments in the development are on the market starting from $595,000 while at the other end of the scale four-bedrooms are priced up to $1,895,000. 'People are being pushed further and further west,' James said. 'No one can afford to live where they've grown up. 'I know families that have grown up here but they've had to move all the way out west because everything has shot up in price or been turned into apartment blocks they can't afford.' The couple, who live about 6km away in West Ryde, said new high-rise developments have 'blocked off the view' and fear the same for Carlingford. Sandra (pictured), who moved to Sydney in 1972, said the new apartments represent the 'changing face of Australia' 'There's so many new developments being built but there's no infrastructure to support it,' James added. 'People out here are already struggling to get jobs locally.' Sandra, who moved to Sydney in 1972 for a working holiday and decided to stay, said the new apartments represent the 'changing face of Australia'. 'I don't like it, it's so sad,' she said. 'We came here in the 70s and there were so many wonderful, fabulous opportunities for everybody, but it's all changed now. 'I wouldn't tell anybody to emigrate here anymore and if I was rich, I'd go back home, but I'm not. 'There's too many units being put up everywhere. It's horrible how the city is changing.' Victor, who recently moved to Carlingford from Brighton-Le-Sands, said he feels there's 'too many people for such a small area'. 'I only moved in three weeks ago and I can feel it's growing so fast - it feels full,' he added. Local resident Alina said the area was in desperate need of more 'shops, cafes and restaurants'. A spokesperson for Meriton said they 'worked closely with council to ensure the project addresses local concerns such as traffic, parking, and infrastructure needs'. The proposal 'went through an extensive planning process, including assessment by independent planning and design review panels, referrals to key government agencies such as the Department of Education and Transport for NSW, and thorough community consultation. 'The proposal was endorsed by Council in July 2024 following a comprehensive assessment report. 'In addition to housing, the project will deliver over 5,000m² of new public open space, interactive children's playgrounds, upgraded pedestrian links, on-site childcare, specialty and service based retail shops, a national supermarket, and a new 2,500m² Community Hub featuring a library and multiple community facilities, bringing improved and lasting benefits to both residents in the local Carlingford community and beyond. 'Importantly, the development will contribute significantly to NSW's critical housing supply, with 90 per cent of apartments at The Carling priced well below Sydney's median house price of $1.5million. 'To further support home buyers, Meriton is offering Australia's lowest two-year fixed home loan rate of just four per cent, making purchasing more affordable than renting for many. 'The apartments have been well received by the market and are selling strongly.'
