Recently, the international financial industry has been discussing a phenomenon: major global economies are quietly changing their supply chain strategies of several decades. In the past, everyone played the game of "just right" — maintaining minimal inventory with timely replenishment. Now? They've pivoted to "better safe than sorry," starting to stockpile strategic materials at any cost.

Behind this shift lies a very realistic reason — potential war risks, shipping disruptions, and geopolitical blockades are all genuine threats. As a result, from oil to rare metals, countries are making massive investments in building strategic reserves.

The numbers tell the story best. Some countries have already stockpiled approximately 1.4 billion barrels of oil. How alarming is this quantity? According to research from a leading bank's commodities department, this is enough to sustain supplies for several hundred days in case of complete supply disruption, far exceeding the internationally accepted 90-day standard.

In the metals sector, the situation is even more striking. Tungsten, cobalt, and other key military-grade metals are experiencing wild price movements driven by "strong security" logic. In just over halfway through 2025, tungsten's gains have already surged to 229%, and cobalt hasn't lagged behind, rising 120%. This isn't ordinary market volatility; this is structural repricing.

What does this change mean for investors? The main trend lines are becoming very clear: one revolves around "de-dollarization" driving gold allocation enthusiasm, and the other is based on nation-state security needs driving metals long logic. As central banks worldwide increasingly rely on gold as a tool to hedge credit risks, coupled with surging defense budgets — for example, a major power just proposed increasing defense budgets by 50% to $1.5 trillion — the entire commodities market is entering a new era dominated by geopolitical premiums. Against this backdrop, traditional market analysis frameworks are no longer quite sufficient.