Vale doubles down on nickel ahead of EV revolution
Vale needs to sort out once and for all its problem child, Goro, and keep its fingers crossed that Tsingshan's announcement is, for now at least, "just talk".
Vale needs to sort out once and for all its problem child, Goro, and keep its fingers crossed that Tsingshan's announcement is, for now at least, "just talk".
New Caledonia could be a very important part of our strategy to supply nickel, especially given the EV revolution.
Using more nickel cuts costs by reducing the amount of expensive cobalt, a mainstay of current battery technology.
Expectations of a supply avalanche hitting the nickel market next year due to new capacity in Indonesia have sent prices to seven-month lows, but analysts doubt the plans spearheaded by Chinese firms can be carried out so quickly.
Nornickel’s current capex plan includes $6.5-7.5 billion for its base investment programme and $2.5 billion for its environmental programme.
The numbers are up thanks to the success of the company’s Moa JV with the Cuban Government.
Due to lower production amid bad weather and a slow ramp-up after a regular maintenance, Sumitomo now expects a loss of 13.6 billion yen.
Nornickels consolidated copper output has risen by 20% to 290,878 tonnes in the first nine months of 2018.
Horizonte plans to raise $443 million to begin construction on the mine in the middle of 2019, production slated for late 2021.
The move is part of BASF plans to invest up to 400 million euros ($462 million) as a first step in building production plants for cathode materials in Europe.