Australia moves to find new critical minerals partners but risks China’s ire

Australia is a major supplier of the metals used to make rare earths, accounting for 8 per cent of global supply. - Reuters

SYDNEY (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): For decades, Australia has been a crucial supplier of the iron ore that has helped to quench China’s insatiable appetite for steel.

This massive flow of iron ore – which invoked more than A$150 billion (S$135 billion) a year of sales – enabled China to build apartment blocks, shopping centres and infrastructure projects around the country as its economy expanded.