Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube revealed during the World Economic Forum in Dalian that the country is actively considering using its abundant mineral resources as collateral through "resource‑linked debt instruments" to finance road and railway construction projects in cooperation with China. This model aims to leverage future revenue from natural resources as loan guarantees to address the huge funding gap for infrastructure development. Ncube said Zimbabwe has held preliminary discussions with China Railway Group regarding such financing arrangements. He told reporters: "We have discussed resource‑linked debt instruments and hope to use them in the future to support infrastructure development, particularly in the road and railway sectors." Under the envisaged plan, Zimbabwe would assess project costs, toll revenue potential, and the return cycle of required resource investments to determine the scale of resource collateral and the repayment path. As Africa's largest lithium producer, Zimbabwe possesses rich mineral resources, but years of economic mismanagement and political instability have left its infrastructure severely lagging. The African Development Bank estimates that the country needs approximately US$34 billion to modernise its transport and logistics network. The proposed resource‑for‑infrastructure plan resembles the model of the US$7 billion Sicomines copper‑cobalt joint venture in the Democratic Republic of Congo with Chinese companies. As early as September 2025, Zimbabwe's President, during a meeting in Beijing with senior executives of China Railway Group, promoted a railway rehabilitation cooperation plan totalling US$533 million. The project is to be implemented by Chuantie International, a subsidiary of China Railway Group with extensive experience in African projects. The scope of work includes repair and reinforcement of existing lines and bridges, modernisation of signal systems, procurement of 17 locomotives and 209 freight wagons, construction of five new stations, and the key trunk line connecting Beitbridge and Harare – a strategic corridor leading directly to South Africa, which is vital to Zimbabwe's foreign trade. Currently, the project's financing method and formal signing date are still under final negotiation. Zimbabwe's railway network was built during the colonial era and carried up to 12 million tonnes of freight annually in the 1990s. However, decades of underinvestment, equipment obsolescence, and foreign exchange shortages have caused the railway infrastructure to deteriorate continuously. Current annual freight volume has fallen to less than 3 million tonnes – only 15% of its historical peak. Many lines are overgrown with weeds, and a large number of locomotives and rolling stock have been taken out of service, directly weakening the capacity to transport bulk commodities such as lithium, chrome ore, and coal to the ports of Mozambique and South Africa. Consequently, Chinese mining enterprises operating in Zimbabwe – including Tsingshan Holding Group, Sinosteel Corporation, and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt – all face export bottlenecks for their products. The decline of the railway system has forced a large volume of freight onto roads, leading to a surge in heavy trucks, which in turn exacerbates road congestion, traffic accidents, and pavement damage, forming a vicious cycle. In response, the National Railways of Zimbabwe has incorporated this railway rehabilitation into a broader modernisation framework and has engaged in cooperation with 11 private enterprises. Among them, South Africa's Grindrod, through its subsidiary Beitbridge‑Bulawayo Railway Company, has already deployed three locomotives and 150 freight wagons to alleviate current transport pressures. At the same time, Zimbabwe is exploring collaboration with the University of Zimbabwe to leverage the university's innovation centre for localised railway technology R&D and talent training, building capacity for long‑term operations. Analysts point out that if this railway rehabilitation is successfully implemented, it will not only fully restore Zimbabwe's deteriorated railway network, but also provide critical logistics support for the country's US$12 billion mining target, while further deepening the strategic presence of Chinese enterprises in Zimbabwe's mining and infrastructure sectors. According to market dynamics, in recent years – and especially since the beginning of this year – lithium ore shipments from Zimbabwe have been persistently delayed at ports, with insufficient inland transport capacity being one of the main bottlenecks hindering smooth cargo arrivals. As the relevant logistics system upgrades are put into effect, this situation is expected to be significantly alleviated, and the transport efficiency of lithium materials will be notably improved, thereby injecting solid momentum into the stabilisation of global lithium supply. Sources: Mining.com , Azure Track Rail, and SMM

Recently, ARECOMS of the Democratic Republic of the Congo issued provisions governing unused export quotas for the first half of 2026. According to Press Release No. 2026/003 released by the Autorité de Régulation et de Contrôle des Marchés des Substances Minérales Stratégiques (ARECOMS), all unused quotas will be forfeited and reallocated to the strategic quota pool. The full text of the release is as follows:

Democratic Republic of Congo will withdraw unused cobalt export rights under first-half quotas and reassign them to a state-controlled entity, its strategic minerals regulator said, tightening control over shipments from the world’s top producer. In a notice seen by Reuters on Monday, ARECOMS said all export quotas allocated for January to June that remain unused by June 30 will be forfeited and automatically reassigned to its “strategic quota.” ARECOMS said the reallocated quota volumes will support projects deemed of “national interest,” including efforts to boost local processing, increase value addition and protect the country’s economic interests. The regulator said forfeited quota volumes will be deducted from companies’ initial allocations and cannot be carried forward, effectively penalizing operators that fail to ship within deadlines. Congo’s mining chamber did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China’s CMOC and Glencore, the world’s largest and second-largest cobalt producers, operate in Congo alongside Eurasian Resources Group and China’s Huayou Cobalt, among others. In a further tightening of logistics rules, only cobalt shipments declared in the customs system by July 5 will qualify for export under first-half quotas. The measures take effect on July 1. ARECOMS also warned it could withdraw quotas entirely from companies that fail to export allocated volumes, transfer quotas to third parties, process third-party or artisanal material without authorization, or breach regulations.

On 29 June, ARECOMS (the Authority for the Regulation and Control of Strategic Mineral Substances' Markets) announced that all cobalt export quotas allocated for the first half of 2026 that remain unused as of 30 June 2026 will be deemed forfeited and reclaimed. These unused volumes will be transferred to ARECOMS' strategic quota pool for reallocation by the regulator. This means that mining companies will no longer be allowed to retain unused export quotas, further strengthening the government's control over the pace of cobalt exports. It remains unclear how much of the overall 2026 export quota has yet to be utilized and which companies will be most significantly affected.

Data from the online query platform of customs statistics showed that China's imports of copper ores and concentrates in May 2026 were 2,360,706.88 mt, up 0.39% MoM and down 1.74% YoY. In May, China imported 711,404.02 mt of copper ores and concentrates from Chile, up 1.10% MoM and down 2.90% YoY. In May, China imported 691,924.04 mt of copper ores and concentrates from Peru, up 19.15% MoM and up 11.98% YoY. On the export side, China's exports of copper ores and concentrates in May 2026 were 2,711.03 mt, up 19.71% MoM and up 514.63% YoY. In May, China exported 2,297.60 mt of copper ores and concentrates to Malaysia, up 1.50% MoM. In May, China exported 412.23 mt of copper ores and concentrates to Mongolia, up 176,064.53% MoM and down 0.43% YoY. The following is a breakdown of imports based on data from the website of the General Administration of Customs of China: Origin May 2026 (mt) MoM YoY Chile 711,404.02 1.10% -2.90% Peru 691,924.04 19.15% 11.98% Mongolia 186,875.99 -7.29% 4.26% Russia 125,158.75 5.58% 126.45% Kazakhstan 107,825.54 36.13% 23.95% Serbia 69,862.17 38.32% 63.32% Ecuador 66,026.07 97.53% 14.72% Mexico 54,655.35 -42.07% -50.19% Saudi Arabia 47,728.89 311.30% 711.73% Spain 38,136.31 -52.73% 293.96% DRC 28,509.28 -49.18% -63.38% Australia 28,422.81 -42.38% -55.52% Botswana 27,327.14 -23.38% -17.56% Laos 26,013.43 108.82% 131.43% Philippines 25,631.95 134.06% -5.58% Brazil 22,712.93 -46.74% -36.68% Canada 18,835.75 -52.72% -60.50% Armenia 16,817.88 -57.68% 26.56% Eritrea 9,980.67 -8.03% -52.89% Taiwan, China 9,002.08 - -17.47% Zambia 6,209.27 -52.53% 47.73% Albania 5,372.45 -20.27% -10.54% Pakistan 4,720.49 -17.25% 78.70% Namibia 4,117.14 59.60% 858.62% Mauritania 3,790.08 -33.33% -56.20% Morocco 3,687.66 99.79% 21.96% Colombia 3,642.41 2,087.96% -57.22% Azerbaijan 3,042.82 55.75% 886.21% Oman 2,537.84 -78.08% -65.58% Dominican Republic 2,502.75 -68.98% -64.07% Nicaragua 1,922.67 -22.65% 65.96% UAE 1,135.84 -13.28% -48.26% Turkey 809.08 -92.58% -90.95% Myanmar 724.65 -2.22% -6.91% Madagascar 534.97 30.16% 4.50% Congo Republic 505.85 -26.88% -20.16% Mozambique 483.28 -46.93% 96.40% South Africa 369.92 -83.64% -93.75% Kenya 364.00 44.45% - Bolivia 338.21 -25.80% - Tanzania 294.82 -53.33% -64.87% Nigeria 221.00 689.29% 310.09% Ethiopia 197.45 9,872,200.00% 1,645,283.33% Thailand 136.40 - 50.85% Angola 130.81 - - Vietnam 63.84 - - Papua New Guinea 0.09 - - Netherlands 0.05 6.25% 10.87% Total 2,360,706.88 0.39% -1.74% Data source: General Administration of Customs The following is a breakdown of exports based on data from the website of the General Administration of Customs of China: Destination May 2026 (mt) MoM YoY Malaysia 2,297.60 1.50% - Mongolia 412.23 176,064.53% -0.43% UK 0.52 13.60% 1,626.67% Netherlands 0.49 150.76% 8,133.33% Kazakhstan 0.09 - - Belgium 0.05 -27.54% 13.64% Australia 0.04 21.21% - Total 2,711.03 19.71% 514.63% Data source: General Administration of Customs (Comprehensive by Wenhua)

Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR) has resumed operations on a key section of its rail corridor and received its first copper shipment from the Democratic Republic of Congo since repairing flood-damaged infrastructure. The rail link between the Port of Lobito and Huambo had been disrupted for approximately two months due to severe flooding. During the outage, LAR maintained cargo movements through a contingency plan involving rail and truck transfers. The Lobito Corridor is a major export route for copper and cobalt from the DRC to the Atlantic coast, and the restoration of rail traffic is expected to improve logistics efficiency for critical minerals exports from Central Africa.