Glencore joins US Export-Import Bank’s $12 billion critical minerals stockpile initiative

The US is building a strategic stockpile of critical minerals designed to insulate domestic manufacturers from supply shocks.

Project Vault, announced on February 2, 2026, pairs up to $10B in financing from the US Export-Import Bank with roughly $2B in private capital, creating an approximately $12B war chest to procure and store around 60 critical minerals. Glencore, the Swiss-headquartered commodities giant, is one of several major trading firms tapped to source materials for the reserve.

What Project Vault actually does

The EXIM loan backing the project is the largest in the bank’s entire history.

The target is a roughly 60-day buffer supply of critical minerals for domestic manufacturers.

Glencore is working alongside Hartree Partners, Traxys, and Mercuria Americas on the sourcing side. On the demand side, the initiative counts major OEMs including Clarios, GE Vernova, Western Digital, and Boeing as participants.

During Glencore’s February 2026 earnings commentary, the company highlighted planned deals including cobalt purchases tailored toward fulfilling commitments to the US stockpile. Cobalt is essential for lithium-ion batteries, and the Democratic Republic of Congo dominates global production while China controls the bulk of refining capacity.

The China problem

China controls the processing and refining of a staggering share of the world’s critical minerals across rare earths, cobalt, lithium, gallium, and germanium. Recent export restrictions by China on several critical minerals have made the vulnerability impossible to ignore.

The initiative represents what policymakers call “friend-shoring,” a strategy that prioritizes sourcing from allied nations rather than geopolitical rivals. By enlisting commodity traders with global procurement networks, Project Vault can tap into production from Australia, Canada, South America, and parts of Africa without routing materials through Chinese processing facilities.

Glencore’s role and strategic positioning

Glencore is one of the world’s largest producers of cobalt, with major assets in the DRC. Its ability to procure cobalt and deliver it directly into a US-controlled stockpile sidesteps the Chinese refining bottleneck that has worried defense analysts for years.

It’s worth noting that the $500M figure represents EXIM’s commitment as part of the broader $12B initiative, not a standalone fund created exclusively between Glencore and the bank. Glencore is one player in a multi-party structure that spans trading houses, manufacturers, and government financing.

Market implications and what to watch

For commodity traders, Project Vault introduces a large, price-insensitive buyer into markets that are often thinly traded. Minerals like gallium and germanium don’t have the liquidity of copper or iron ore.

The EU has already signaled similar ambitions through its Critical Raw Materials Act, and Japan and South Korea have longstanding mineral security strategies.

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