US Strategic Metals gains approval for $100.8m loan program
USSM is planning to mine what it considers to be the largest cobalt reserve in North America.
The Singapore Exchange plans to launch derivative contracts in battery metals in the first half of this year as demand booms for raw materials that play a crucial role in powering electric vehicles.
The bourse is set to launch contracts in cobalt metal, cobalt hydroxide, lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, subject to regulatory approval, according to an exchange statement. SGX will partner with Fastmarkets, the price reporting agency for these products, it added.
The global transition toward a greener future has stoked demand for materials from lithium to cobalt and nickel, which are used in rechargeable batteries. World lithium prices almost quadrupled in the past year, while cobalt doubled. The London Metal Exchange started cash-settled futures for lithium hydroxide last year, while volume on cobalt is among the thinnest of all its contracts.
SGX already has a global rubber benchmark, so the start of the new derivatives will allow “market participants to undertake price risk management of key raw materials used in car production,” said Head of Commodities William Chin.
(By Annie Lee)
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