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Mena region joins mineral rush

The Middle East and North Africa are gearing up to exploit mounting demand for metals and commodities

Buoyed by a post-pandemic surge in commodity prices, the value of the global mining market is expected to increase from $184.33tn in 2021 to $206.47tn in 2022, and to $335.88tn in 2026.

The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) will miss out on much of this growth. Its mining market, which is worth just $16bn – with Saudi Arabia accounting for about 38 per cent – is expected to see only a fraction of this growth.

Steps are now being taken by regional governments to address this issue and develop their mining industries, moves that will reap benefits towards the end of this decade. 

“Looking at demand for commodities in general, and for mining specifically, current global production is out of line with demand projections,” says Cyril Widdershoven, global energy market analyst at Netherlands-based Verocy. “Not enough mining production is in place.” 

The global transition to net-zero carbon emissions is creating demand for minerals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt for energy transmission, as well as silicon, uranium and rare earth elements for solar, wind and nuclear energy generation. Read more

MEED's July 2022 Agenda on mining and metals also includes:

> Mena region joins mineral rush
> Gulf sits on trove of energy transition minerals
> EGA capitalises on hot metals market