An African country that banned exports of its most important raw resource has now banned two more raw materials

Months after banning the export of lithium concentrates, the Southern African country of Zimbabwe has banned another one of its raw exports.

To force more companies to refine its raw materials domestically, Zimbabwe recently decided to prohibit the export of antimony and tungsten with immediate effect.

Antimony is a critical metal used in batteries, flame-resistant materials, electronics and some military applications.

Tungsten is an extremely hard, heat-resistant metal widely used in cutting tools, mining equipment, aerospace and defence.

Both are valuable industrial minerals, making them strategically important to Zimbabwe and other resource-rich countries.