Carajás Roundtable 2026: Mining, Geopolitics and the Future of Steel

What happens when mining executives, policymakers, development finance institutions, sustainability leaders and industry experts gather in one of the world’s most important mining provinces? The 2nd Carajás Roundtable, co-hosted by the Brazilian Centre for International Relations (CEBRI) and Vale, provided a unique opportunity to explore the intersection of geopolitics, critical minerals, industrial policy, steel decarbonisation and artificial intelligence. Held in the Brazilian Amazon, the discussions highlighted how resource security, economic resilience and climate ambition are becoming increasingly interconnected. A recurring theme was that future competitiveness may depend less on resource ownership alone and more on the ability to build resilient industrial ecosystems around those resources. Wood Mackenzie reflects on the key themes, insights and takeaways from two days of discussion at the centre of one of the world’s most strategically important mining regions.