What if China corners the cobalt market?

It is widely known that more than half of the world’s cobalt reserves and production are in one dangerously unstable country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. What is less well known is that four-fifths of the cobalt sulphates and oxides used to make the all-important cathodes for lithium-ion batteries are refined in China. (Much of the other 20% is processed in Finland, but its raw material, too, comes from a mine in Congo, majority-owned by a Chinese firm, China Molybdenum.) 

On March 14th concerns about China’s grip on Congo’s cobalt production deepened when GEM, a Chinese battery maker, said it would acquire a third of the cobalt shipped by Glencore, the world’s biggest producer of the metal, between 2018 and 2020—equivalent to almost half of the world’s 110,000-tonne production in 2017. This is likely to add momentum to a rally that has pushed the price of cobalt up from an average of $26,500 a tonne in 2016 to above $90,000 a tonne. It is not known whether non-Chinese battery, EV or consumer-electronics manufacturers have done similar, unannounced deals with Glencore. 

But Sam Jaffe of Cairn Energy Research Advisors, a consultancy, says it will be a severe blow to some firms. He likens the outcome of the deal to a game of musical chairs in which Chinese battery manufacturers have taken all but one of the seats. “Everybody else is frantically looking for that last empty chair.” Mr Jaffe doubts the cobalt grab is an effort by Chinese firms to corner or manipulate the market for speculative ends. Instead, he says, they are likely to be driven by a “desperate need” to fulfil China’s ambitious plans to step up production of EVs. 

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Leading Edge Materials Initiates Research on Hafnium and Zirconium Extraction from Norra Kärr in Sweden

Leading Edge Materials Initiates Research on Hafnium and Zirconium Extraction from Norra Kärr Rare Earth Element Project, Sweden Vancouver, Canada – Leading Edge Materials Corp. (“Leading Edge Materials”) or (“the “Company”) (TSXV:LEM) (OTCQB: LEMIF) (Nasdaq First North: LEMSE) is pleased to provide an update on the first of a range of research projects aimed at capturing added value opportunities for the Norra Kärr rare earth element (“REE”) project in Sweden. A Pre-Feasibility Study completed on Norra Kärr in 2015 (“PFS”) identified a range of opportunities to improve project economics while reducing capital expenditure and minimizing the environmental footprint of the project. 

 

The Norra Kärr mine project is a mine project located in southern Sweden in Jönköping County. Norra Kärr represents one of the largest zirconium reserves in Sweden having estimated reserves of 58 million tonnes of ore grading 1.7% zirconium metal. Wikipedia

 

Leading Edge Materials has partnered with a research team lead by Prof. Julien Leclaire at the Institut de Chimie et Biochimie Moléculaires et Supramoléculaires (“ICBMS”) in Lyon, France to investigate the extraction and separation of hafnium and zirconium from a process material previously considered to be waste. Prof. Leclaire has worked extensively on highly selective extraction systems that apply carbon dioxide to form reversible extractive agents, with a focus on REEs in both primary and waste materials. 

 

Bosch will not enter battery cell production for EVs

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Robert Bosch [ROBG.UL], the world's biggest automotive supplier, has decided against producing its own battery cells, saying the billions of euros of investment needed was too risky.

The decision is a blow to European politicians and car manufacturers who have called for companies to band together to create a regional battery cell producer to compete with Asian players such as Samsung and Panasonic.

"Given dynamic external market factors that can only be predicted with difficulty, it is unclear whether this investment would pay off for Bosch, and when," Bosch said in a statement on Wednesday.

Bosch had said it would only consider making battery cells if there was a chance it could capture a fifth of that market by 2030, a move it said would require about 20 billion euros (£17.7 billion) of investment to create 200 gigawatt hours of capacity.

"In the overall interest of the company, such an investment is not justifiable," Rolf Bulander, head of mobility solutions said on a conference call. "For new entrants, market conditions are more than challenging."

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Sandvik invests $24 million in plant to make titanium and nickel powder for 3D printing

[ASM International, February 25, 2018] Sandvik, Sweden, announces that it will invest about $24.5 million in a new plant for manufacturing titanium and nickel fine metal powders within Sandvik Materials Technology. The investment will complement the existing powder offering and strengthen Sandvik’s position in the rapidly growing markets for metal powder and metal additive manufacturing. Sandvik has an industry leading position already today in the production and sale of fine metal powders. Stainless steel, nickel-base, and cobalt-chromium alloys are manufactured in the United Kingdom and Sweden. Powders are sold across Europe, North America, and Asia through the Osprey brand.
 

 

The demand for metal powder for additive manufacturing is expected to increase significantly in the coming years. Titanium and nickel alloys are key growth areas in the field of additive manufacturing, accounting for a significant portion of the metal powder market.

“This investment is an enabler for future growth and means that we are expanding our metal powder offering to include virtually all alloy groups of relevance today. In addition, it will also support the overall additive manufacturing business at Sandvik”, says Annika Roos, Head of product area Powder at Sandvik Materials Technology.

“The metal powder segment and the additive manufacturing business are of increasingly strategic importance to us,” says Göran Björkman, President of Sandvik Materials Technology.

The facility will be located in Sandviken, Sweden, near the in-house titanium raw material supply and the center for additive manufacturing. It is expected to be operational during 2020.

www.sandvik.com