Gulf states look to critical minerals as global supply chains shift ...Saudi Arabia

Gulf states are expanding their ambitions in critical minerals, deploying capital, industrial infrastructure and international partnerships as governments and companies seek to diversify supply chains that remain heavily dependent on China. Saudi Arabia has emerged as the region’s most active player, putting mining and mineral processing at the centre of its wider industrial diversification plans. The UAE is building exposure through overseas mining investments and its established logistics and commodity trading networks, while Qatar has taken a more investment-led approach. The result is an emerging Gulf role in a sector increasingly shaped by concerns over security of supply. China remains dominant in the processing and refining of many minerals considered critical to industries ranging from electric vehicles and renewable energy to advanced electronics and defense manufacturing. Building alternatives requires not only access to mineral deposits, but also large investments in processing facilities, infrastructure and downstream manufacturing. For Gulf economies, that shift presents an opportunity to apply some of the capabilities developed through decades of involvement in global energy markets to a new category of strategic commodities.Saudi Arabia is moving furthest in that direction. Mining has been identified as an important component of Vision 2030, with the Kingdom seeking both to develop domestic resources and establish partnerships that connect Saudi Arabia to mineral supply chains overseas.One of the clearest examples is the agreement involving Saudi mining company Ma’aden and US-based MP Materials to develop a rare-earth supply chain in the Kingdom.The plans include separation and refining capacity and could eventually extend into magnet production, moving the Saudi strategy beyond investment in raw mineral resources and toward higher-value stages of the supply chain.The partnership also comes amid broader cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the US covering critical minerals, metals, uranium and permanent magnets.Other agreements point in the same direction. US Strategic Metals has explored bringing critical-mineral refining technology and expertise into Saudi Arabia, while Critical Metals Corp has discussed a potential Saudi processing facility connected to rare-earth resources from Greenland. Taken together, the projects illustrate the Kingdom’s effort to establish itself not simply as an investor or potential producer, but as a location where minerals can be processed and incorporated into international industrial supply chains.The UAE is pursuing a somewhat different model.Rather than concentrating primarily on domestic mineral development, it has used overseas investment alongside its existing strengths in ports, logistics, finance and commodity trading.Investments in Zambia’s Mopani copper mine and mining assets in the Democratic Republic of Congo have increased the UAE’s exposure to mineral-producing economies in Africa. At the same time, a critical-minerals framework between the UAE and the US has opened another avenue for cooperation in mining and processing.The approach reflects a broader advantage held by Gulf economies. Their importance to future mineral markets does not necessarily depend on having the world’s largest reserves within their own borders.Capital, infrastructure and the ability to invest internationally can provide another route into the supply chain. Qatar’s strategy illustrates that point particularly clearly.The Qatar Investment Authority has invested $180 million in TechMet, an investment platform focused on critical minerals and associated supply chains. TechMet has links to the US development-finance ecosystem, giving the investment an additional connection to Western efforts to develop alternative sources of strategically important minerals.The approaches taken by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar differ, but they are unfolding against the same international backdrop. The US and European countries are seeking to reduce the risks created by concentrated mineral supply chains. Developing new mines can take years, while building refining and processing facilities requires substantial upfront investment. That creates space for Gulf sovereign wealth funds and state-backed companies with both access to capital and experience financing large international infrastructure projects. Saudi Arabia’s partnerships with US companies are particularly notable because they bring together Western technology and market access with Saudi capital and industrial ambitions.If projects progress as planned, the Kingdom could increasingly serve as a link between mineral-producing countries, processing facilities and manufacturers in major consumer markets.There are limits to how quickly the global mineral map can change. China has spent decades developing refining capacity, industrial expertise and downstream manufacturing networks. Replicating that ecosystem elsewhere will require more than investment alone.Gulf countries also maintain extensive commercial relationships with China and are unlikely to view their mineral strategies solely through the lens of competition between Beijing and Washington.Instead, the activity points toward diversification. Just as Gulf economies have sought to broaden their economic bases beyond oil and gas, they are increasingly positioning themselves across a wider range of commodity supply chains.For Saudi Arabia, that means developing processing and industrial capacity at home. For the UAE, overseas assets and global trading networks offer another route. Qatar, meanwhile, is using investment capital to gain exposure to the sector. The Gulf is unlikely to replace China at the centre of global critical-mineral processing. But as governments and companies spend billions of dollars building more geographically diverse supply chains, the region could become an increasingly important source of capital, processing capacity and connectivity between producers and international markets.

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