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Asia Mining

China Nickel Tycoon Seeks Growth in US Energy-Storage Market – by Jacob Gu (Bloomberg News – September 10, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Chinese billionaire Xiang Guangda’s battery company is hunting for more US investment opportunities despite mounting geopolitical tension between the world’s economic juggernauts. REPT BATTERO Energy Co., a unit of Xiang’s Tsingshan Holding Group Co., this week opened an office in California, marking its first US outpost.

REPT “is surely giving full respect to the world’s second largest energy storage market,” Chairman Hui Cao said during an interview. Although a specific target hasn’t yet been set, the aim is for the US to “contribute more than 10%” to REPT’s revenue.

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World’s largest uranium miner warns Ukraine war makes it harder to supply west – by Harry Dempsey and Anastasia Stognei (Financial Times – September 10, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

Pull towards Russia and China grows stronger, says boss of Kazatomprom

Kazatomprom’s chief executive has warned that Russia’s war on Ukraine is making it harder for the world’s largest uranium producer to keep supplying the west as the gravitational pull towards Moscow and Beijing grows stronger.

Meirzhan Yussupov, chief of the Kazakh state miner, said sanctions caused by the war had created obstacles to supplying western utilities. Kazakhstan produces 43 per cent of the world’s uranium, equivalent to the market share that the Opec cartel has over oil.

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Do the Chinese come to Zimbabwe to invest or to pillage our resources? – by Tendai Ruben Mbofana (The Zimbabwean – September 7, 2024)

https://www.thezimbabwean.co/

President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa has returned from China, where he attended the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). During the visit, Mnangagwa visited quite a number of companies, including Huawei, as well as giving a speech at the FOCAC, and later addressed the 8th Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs.

In a statement, the president declared: This is the best time to invest in Zimbabwe. Oh really, Mr. President! What a bold thing to say! However, has there been any genuine investments by the Chinese in Zimbabwe?

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Indonesia Sees Nickel Holding Near Current Levels on New Plants – by Eddie Spence (Bloomberg News – September 5, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Indonesia’s government sees nickel prices stabilizing near current levels in the future, as new plants in the world’s biggest producer offset rising demand and keep the market well supplied.

Prices on the London Metal Exchange should hold around $15,000 to $16,000 a ton in the short to medium term, Septian Hario Seto, a deputy at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, said in a presentation in Bali on Thursday.

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Column: Fading China optimism hits iron ore prices, but not yet volumes – by Clyde Russell (Reuters – September 3, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

China’s iron ore futures suffered their worst one-day price drop for almost two years on Monday, but the evaporating optimism in the market has yet to show up in imports of the key raw material for making steel. Contracts on the Dalian Commodity Exchange ended day trading on Monday at 723.5 yuan ($101.83) a metric ton, 4.83% down from the previous close and the largest daily loss since Oct. 31, 2022.

The weakness was mirrored by Singapore Exchange futures , which closed at $96.60 a ton, down 2.13% from the prior close and the lowest since Aug. 16. The catalyst for Monday’s weakness was a raft of data that indicated that the world’s second-biggest economy is struggling to gain momentum.

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From diamonds to coal – The tragedy of trade – by Nandkumar M Kamat (Navhind Times – November 22, 2020)

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The hand of history is sometimes cruel. After enjoying status as an international diamond trading hub, Goa is now concerned about turning into a major coal importing hub in Indo-Pacific. Since there is a lot of attention to coal in local public discourse, people have forgotten the position of Goa in a related commodity- diamonds. Diamond and coal offer stark contrasts.

Diamond and coal are allotropes of carbon. Diamond is defined as a glimmering glass-like mineral that is an allotrope of carbon in which each atom is surrounded by four others in the form of a tetrahedron. Coal is defined as a black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.

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Afghanistan’s Mineral Resources: Opportunities And Challenges – OpEd – by Naseeb Ullah Achakzai (Eurasia Review – September 2, 2024)

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Afghanistan being a landlocked country has huge strategic importance followed by immense mineral deposits. It is estimated that it has untapped resources worth of 1 to 3 billion USD. These resources include Oil, Gas, Lithium, Copper, Coal, Gold, Cobalt, Rare Earth Minerals, Aluminum, Uranium, Zinc, Iron Ore, Timber, Chromite, Marble, Limestone, Sandstone, Barite, Sulphur, Gypsum, and Nickel.

The states equipped with technology have opportunities to harvest these resources in the presence of myriad of challanges. Once tapped, these resources can alter the fate of war torn and poverty stricken Afghanistan.

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Will Japan Turn to Deep Seabed Mining to Secure Critical Mineral Supply Chains? – by Oliver Banks and Ariel Silverman (The Diplomat – September 03, 2024)

https://thediplomat.com/

Despite the apparent benefits, there are significant legal gaps and technological limitations that must be addressed before this mineral wealth on the seafloor can be brought to market.

In late June, Japanese researchers found around 230 million metric tons of critical minerals on the seabed within Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone. The resources include enough cobalt to meet the country’s consumption needs for 75 years and over a decade’s supply of nickel. These minerals are crucial components of electric vehicle car batteries central to the low-carbon energy transition.

This discovery is also good news to critics in the West anxious to strip China of its monopolistic control over supply chains for components crucial to high-tech goods and defense technologies.

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China’s Africa interests driven by race for renewables – by Lauren Johnston (Asia Times – September 3, 2024)

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Africa could learn from others how to manage mineral relations with China – looking to what Indonesia did with nickel, for example

How is the race for green energy shaping relations between China and Africa? The global climate crisis has created a push for renewable energy technology – like solar or wind power – which would lessen reliance on polluting energy sources. China saw some years ago that it had a chance to lead in such a new industry.

Africa is home to a lot of the important minerals needed to create renewable technologies – like copper, cobalt and lithium, key ingredients in battery manufacture. The race for green energy is therefore leading to a rush for these minerals in Africa, led by China, the US and Europe.

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China’s rare copper export boom signals more than weak demand – by Andy Home (Reuters – August 20, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) – A rare burst of Chinese exports has deflated bull spirits in the copper market, with funds dumping long positions and prices down by 16% from the record highs seen in May. The world’s largest buyer of copper shipped out an unprecedented 158,000 metric tons of refined metal in June. First-half exports of 302,000 tons were already higher than any full calendar year since 2019.

This break of normal trade patterns has punctured a bull narrative of constrained supply and cyclical demand recovery. Weak Chinese purchasing managers indices show that activity in the country’s manufacturing sector sank to a five-month low in July, reinforcing Doctor Copper’s gloomy message.

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World’s largest uranium producer slashes production target – by Harry Dempsey (Financial Times – August 23, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

Move by Kazakh mining company Kazatomprom threatens to squeeze supplies of the radioactive fuel

Kazatomprom, the world’s largest uranium producer, has slashed its production target for 2025 due to project delays and sulphuric acid shortages, threatening to squeeze supplies of the radioactive fuel vital for nuclear power.

The Kazakh company, which generates a fifth of global uranium supply, cut its target for next year by 17 per cent to a range of 25,000 to 26,500 tonnes of yellowcake. The move is likely to put upward pressure on uranium prices, which have softened from a 16-year high above $100 per lb this year but remain at historically elevated levels above $80 per lb, according to UxC, a pricing data provider.

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China is backing off coal power plant approvals after a 2022-23 surge that alarmed climate experts – by Ken Moritsugu (Associated Press – August 20, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

BEIJING (AP) — Approvals for new coal-fired power plants in China dropped sharply in the first half of this year, according to an analysis released Tuesday, after a flurry of permits in the previous two years raised concern about the government’s commitment to limiting climate change.

A review of project documents by Greenpeace East Asia found that 14 new coal plants were approved from January to June with a total capacity of 10.3 gigawatts, down 80% from 50.4 gigawatts in the first half of last year.

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Replacing China in copper supply chain is ‘unfeasible,’ warns WoodMac, as the West seeks shift – by Dylan Butts (CNBC.com – August 16 2024)

https://www.cnbc.com/

Western countries seeking to diversify away from China’s dominance in copper could delay the energy transition besides raising costs, while its complete replacement would be ‘unfeasible,’ according to Wood Mackenzie. China leads the world in key segments of the copper supply chain, with the critical metal serving as an important component in emerging technologies such as renewable energy, energy storage and electric vehicles.

As the U.S., Canada, Australia, and European countries seek to displace the country’s hold on copper through subsidies and investment, Wood Mackenzie warns that the dual aims of decarbonization and reduced dependence on Beijing are at odds with one another.

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China will limit exports of antimony, a mineral used in products from batteries to weapons (Associated Press – August 15, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Commerce Ministry announced Thursday that it will restrict exports of a mineral used in a wide range of products from batteries to weapons. Export controls will be placed on antimony starting Sept. 15 to safeguard China’s security and interests and fulfill its international non-proliferation obligations, the ministry said.

Anyone wishing to export the mineral in various forms will have to apply for a license. It wasn’t immediately clear to what extent exports would be blocked, though the “non-proliferation” wording suggested it could include weapons-related uses.

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Giant Metal Stockpile in Singapore Sparks Rare Warehouse Battle – by Alfred Cang (Bloomberg News – August 15, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Metal stockpiles are surging in Singapore, and slowing global demand is only part of the reason. Refined zinc and lead have been pouring into Singapore since the middle of last year, making one of the smallest countries in the world a critical vault for companies including Trafigura Group and Glencore Plc.

The combined inventories of the two base metals in the London Metal Exchange’s Singapore-registered warehouses have grown more than tenfold since May 2023 to a record of almost 430,000 tons in recent weeks, according to bourse data.

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