China has extended its suspension of the export controls on rare earths, lithium ion batteries and graphite anode materials it announced in October 2025. The extension runs only until 10 January 2027. The original announcement suspended the restrictions for a year. China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) published the notice on 9 November, a day before the original suspension was due to expire. It gave no reason for the particular length of the extension.

It is likely that Japanese buyers of medium and heavy rare earths, especially yttrium, will continue to pay high premiums for material through to 2028 as the country's stockpiles run low.

Battery requirements vary significantly across robotics applications, depending on factors such as operating patterns, payload, space constraints, runtime, weight, and total cost of ownership. While cost efficiency is a priority for warehouse and logistics robots, higher energy density and lightweight designs are increasingly important for humanoid and aerospace robots. 

New battery recycling rules entering force in the coming months in South Korea are to change how end-of-life batteries are graded, traded and processed in one of the largest recycling hubs outside China. The first new piece of legislation to enter force, this by the end of 2026, will expand the definition of raw material for black mass but exclude lithium iron phosphate (LFP) material, which Benchmark forecasts will make up 46% of South Korea’s black mass by 2040. Under the new rules, a greater volume of nickel- and cobalt-containing black mass could qualify to be considered a raw material in South Korea under amendments to the country’s Waste Controls Act. Currently, black mass must contain ≥10% nickel by weight, or be counted as waste, which comes with storage and handling requirements that increase recyclers’ costs.