Base metals
Overview
From vehicle lightweighting to increased demand for copper to wire our connected world, base metals are used widely in manufacturing industrial and consumer products, and demand is only going to increase. Base metals are the most connected to the futures market already so what does even more demand mean for commodity investments?
Argus provides base metals premiums in the most active trading regions around the world, in addition to data from the world’s metals exchanges on a real-time (additional fees apply) or 30-minute delay basis.
Base metals coverage
Argus delivers price data on over 300 base metals through the LME, CME and COMEX, as well as proprietary assessments. Our market news and analysis spans copper, aluminium, nickel, lead, tin, zinc and other base metals crucial to commercial and industrial enterprises.
Track premiums in the most active trade regions and use our daily analysis to better understand the link between the physical and paper markets to better navigate futures, options and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Investors that do take positions on the financial markets can use Argus tools to highlight arbitrage opportunities and receive alerts when prices reach upper and lower threshold limits on their contracts of interest.
Highlights of Argus global base metals coverage
- Value-added exchange data tools offer a deeper level of insight to the standard exchange feed windows (calculated derived cash, global view of all exchanges on a single screen, threshold alerts).
- Full suite of non-ferrous scrap prices can be analysed to detect correlations or leading indicators for base metals prices.
- Currency and unit of measure conversions allow easy comparison of exchange data in different regions of the world to identify arbitrage opportunities.
- Base metals workspaces facilitate an holistic view of each individual market’s performance.
Latest base metals news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global base metals industry.
Hybrid vehicles spur Toyota’s record 2023-24 profit
Hybrid vehicles spur Toyota’s record 2023-24 profit
Tokyo, 9 May (Argus) — Japan's largest car producer Toyota reported a record profit for the 2023-24 fiscal year ending 31 March, partially because of strong sales of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Toyota nearly doubled its profit for 2023-24 to ¥5.3 trillion ($34bn), its highest ever for a fiscal year. It sold 11mn vehicles globally, including its luxury brand Lexus, up by 7.3pc from a year earlier. The sharp rise in profit partly resulted from higher demand for HEVs that Toyota sold 3.6mn units of globally, up by 32.1pc from the previous year. North America was the leading market for its HEV sales, said the company's chief financial officer Yoichi Miyazaki, but a further breakdown was undisclosed. Firm demand for HEVs, for which Toyota has both technological and commercial advantages given its long history of development and experience, has largely been prompted by a global slowdown in battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales. HEVs consume significantly less battery materials compared with BEVs, as their battery size is normally 10pc of a BEV. Toyota is accelerating HEV production during 2024-25, as it plans to increase sales by 24.5pc from a year earlier to 4.5mn units. This accounts for 43pc of the company's total sales projection and is up by around 8 percentage points from a year earlier. The global slowdown in BEV sales could mean customers are being sceptical about the overstated view that BEVs are the only solution for decarbonisation, said Toyota's chief executive Koji Sato, adding that the infrastructure necessary for driving BEVs, including charging stations, has not yet adequately developed. But he was unclear on whether Toyota will slow its EV strategy that it announced last year to sell 1.5mn/yr of EVs by 2026 with 10 new models. The company plans to sell 171,000 BEVs during 2024-25, accounting for 1.6pc of its total sales projections. This is up by 46.2pc from a year earlier but the projection is based on "conservative estimations", according to Sato. By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Arcadium witnesses firm January-March lithium demand
Arcadium witnesses firm January-March lithium demand
Singapore, 8 May (Argus) — US-based Arcadium Lithium said demand was "quite strong" during January-March despite the bearish tone at the start of the year, while acknowledging weaker short-term lithium demand compared with previous forecasts. "Market demand was actually quite strong and certainly not reflective of some of the ‘doomsday' scenarios," said Arcadium chief executive Paul Graves with its first-quarter results, citing still growing electric vehicle (EV) sales globally and in China. Arcadium is the merged entity of Australian lithium firm Allkem and US lithium producer Livent, which completed their merger earlier this year. Global EV sales during January-March were up by around 25pc to over 3mn units, according to the IEA, mainly driven by China. China's new energy vehicle production and sales for the quarter rose by 28pc and 32pc from a year earlier to 2.114mn and 2.089mn units respectively, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers data. Expectations for EV sales in China are even higher in the second quarter partly because of "new economic incentives", said Graves, likely referring to China's new automobile trade-in subsidies that has boosted the prices of some battery feedstock metals. Some industry analysts opted to lower their short-term demand forecasts to account for the higher recent sales mix of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Graves said, as sales of battery EVs (BEVs) seem to be losing ground. But Graves countered this by stating that lower BEV sales, which he concedes are expected to be lower by on average 20pc globally in 2024 and 2025 compared with forecasts a year ago, will lead to lower lithium demand that will largely be made up by demand from PHEVs and non-automotive such as stationary energy storage. Arcadium predicts only around 5pc lower demand in terms of GWh in 2024 and 2025 compared with previous forecasts, with demand to remain unchanged or even slightly higher in 2026. Output boost Arcadium is still on track to raise its combined lithium carbonate and hydroxide delivered volumes by about 40pc to 50,000-54,000t lithium carbonate equivalent this year, with volume growth weighted towards the second half of the year. It sold during January-March 30,000 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of spodumene concentrate at $827/dmt on a 5.4pc grade basis and 9,300t of lithium hydroxide and carbonate at around $20,500/t. Contrary to the prevailing view that lithium hydroxide is trading at a discount compared with lithium carbonate, Graves said that is "absolutely not the case" in their portfolio but rather it is at a "significant premium to carbonate". The company has fully commissioned the first 10,000 t/yr expansion at its Fenix lithium carbonate facility in Argentina, which is producing at close to full capacity. Its Olaroz stage two expansion in Argentina, with a nameplate capacity of 25,000 t/yr technical-grade lithium carbonate, is producing at lower rates given a longer ramp-up period. Its lithium hydroxide facilities in US North Carolina's Bessemer and China's Zhejiang with a combined 20,000 t/yr of capacity are still undergoing qualification. Arcadium is planning to expand in Argentina and Canada and expects to add 95,000 t/yr of additional nameplate production capacity by the end of 2026, which will span across spodumene, lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. By Joseph Ho Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Global battery installation growth slows in 1Q: SNE
Global battery installation growth slows in 1Q: SNE
Singapore, 7 May (Argus) — The growth of global electric vehicle (EV) battery installations during January-March this year has slowed with stuttering global EV demand, data from South Korean market intelligence firm SNE Research show. Global EV battery installations during the first quarter rose by around 22pc from a year earlier to 158.8GWh compared with 36pc growth for the same period last year. Most top battery manufacturers have experienced lower growth rate ( see table ), with Japan's Panasonic and South Korea's SK On installing fewer batteries compared with a year earlier. China's Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and BYD continue to spearhead the growth, albeit also at a slower pace. Consumers' preference for battery EVs globally waned as plug-in hybrid EV and hybrid EVs growth gained momentum because of factors including continued high interest rates and a shortage of charging infrastructure, according to SNE. Samsung SDI earlier this year pinned its hopes on a gradual EV battery market recovery in this year's second half when it expected benefits from lower interest rates starting to be realised. Lower interest rates could spur consumers spending and business investment. But US Federal Reserve policymakers earlier this month signalled that they are likely to hold rates higher for longer until they are confident inflation is slowing "sustainably" towards the 2pc target. The higher interest rates and lower residual values of EVs given price cuts on new vehicles could push up EVs' monthly leasing terms, which are often financed, according to Dutch investment bank ING's senior economist Rico Luman and senior high yield credit strategist Oleksiy Soroka. The scaling back of subsidies in Germany will also weigh on EV uptakes, they said. The IEA has forecast that EV sales will continue to grow in most major markets this year but at a slower rate compared with 2023. Global EV sales this year are forecast to top 17mn, more than 20pc of total global vehicle sales. By Joseph Ho Global EV battery installations (GWh) Jan-Mar '24 Jan-Mar '23 1Q '24 y-o-y % ± 1Q '23 y-o-y % ± CATL 60.1 45.6 31.9% 32.9% BYD 22.7 20.3 11.9% 103% LGES 21.7 20.1 7.8% 43.6% Panasonic 9.3 10.6 -12.6% 21.8% Samsung SDI 8.4 6.2 36.3% 44.2% SK On 7.3 7.9 -8.2% 17.9% CALB 6.3 5.2 22.2% 26.8% EVE 3.6 2.3 54.7% 64.3% Guoxuan 3.4 2.7 22.1% 3.8% SVOLT 2.7 0.9 217.7% NA Others 13.4 8.4 59.2% NA Total 158.8 130.2 22% 35.8% Source: SNE Research 1. Calculated 1Q '23 growth rate using SNE Research adjusted figures 2. Used SNE Research 1Q '24 growth rate figures 3. Omitted 1Q '23 growth rate figure for "others" given SVOLT's likely in the list (making it an inaccurate comparison) Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Panama's new president faces copper, canal issues
Panama's new president faces copper, canal issues
Kingston, 6 May (Argus) — Stand-in candidate Jose Raul Mulino will take office on 1 July as president of Panama with a challenge to decide on the future of one of the biggest copper mines in the Americas. The 64 year-old lawyer won yesterday's presidential election in the central American country, promising a "pro-investment and pro-business" policy. He won with 35pc of the vote and an about 10 percentage point lead over his next closest rival, Ricardo Lombana. But he has delivered no comment on the future on the shuttered Canadian-owned copper facility that is one pillar of the country's economy. His government will use public works projects and incentives for foreign investors to restore economic growth, Molino said, without giving details. Panama also faces a crippling drought that has lowered water levels and reduced transit through the economically important Panama Canal. First Quantum intends to meet the new government to discuss reopening the mine, the company's chairman Robert Harding said in March. "Whatever government is elected, we will work with it," Harding said. "We would like to see this mine reopen." Panama closed the $10bn Cobre Panama mine after a supreme court ruling in November that First Quantum's contract was unconstitutional. The mine accounted for 5pc of the country's economy and 1.5pc of global copper output, according to the government. The shutdown will limit the country's economic growth to 2.5pc this year against 7.5pc in 2023, the IMF has forecast. The supreme court's order to close the mine followed weeks of protests over the terms given to First Quantum in October. Protests wracked the country as opposition parties, trade unions, environmental lobbies and non-governmental organizations objected to the terms. "Although the mine's owners would be happy to negotiate a reopening with the new administration, this is a very hot and controversial matter for the new government," a senior official of the outgoing government of President Laurentino Cortizo told Argus today. "Any suggestion of negotiating a reopening would again bring people on the streets." Mulino ran with former president Ricardo Martinelli until the courts disqualified Martinelli because of a money laundering conviction. Martinelli had proposed that Panama renegotiate the contract with First Quantum to secure higher royalties and a stake. "Mulino is a mentee of Martinelli, but I doubt he would stoke public anger by seeking to reopen the mine," the official said. Cobre Panama produced 331,000 t in 2023, 5pc less than 2022 output, First Quantum said. By Canute James Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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