Industry calls for UK to mirror EU raw material policy
Many UK battery and mining industry participants are calling for the government to mirror the EU's proposed Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), announced last week.
UK battery investors, mining firms and analysts have warned that the UK is being "left behind" as larger countries and trading blocs formulate strategies for control of critical raw materials. "At a minimum" the UK should mirror policies introduced by the EU, investment platform Volta Energy Technologies' principal of green technology, James Frith, said.
"The Critical Raw Materials Act and the Net Zero Industry Act further demonstrate the progress that countries/regions are making on strengthening their control of clean energy supply chains," Frith said. "Unfortunately, from a UK perspective it is yet another sign of how the country is being left behind in the race for clean energy manufacturing. While Europe is bringing in new regulations to protect its industry, the UK government is systematically failing, in some areas, to support the manufacturing industries that it will require to remain relevant in a net zero future."
He added that the UK has done plenty of work to support science and technology based around batteries, with organisations such as the Faraday Institute, but that there are problems with delivering on manufacturing.
Other industry figures pointed out that the UK and other western countries are only just beginning to adopt strategies that China has been using for years, even decades.
"It's fascinating to see that both the US and the EU are now embracing tactics that China adopted early. State support is needed to permanently establish battery supply chains in the west. The electrification of our societies has now become a matter of national security," Switzerland-based Voltaire Minerals' founder and former head of cobalt trading at trading firm Glencore, David Brocas, said.
UK government 'tinkering around the edges'
The UK government has said it does recognise the importance of critical raw materials and points to steps it has taken to develop supply chains, although many market participants question whether enough is being done.
"We have deployed funding — through the Automotive Transformation Fund and other facilities — to support the development of UK domestic supply chains. We have forged new partnerships with key countries. We have launched new funding for R&D and development assistance," UK business and trade junior minister Nusrat Ghani said. Ghani also recognised that other countries are acting fast to secure access to raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite, as well as silicon, tin, gallium for electronics and rare earths.
Ghani pointed to recent investments from the UK government in companies producing these raw materials, such as Green Lithium in Teesside, which received funding through the UK Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF), and Innovate UK's Circular Critical Materials Supply Chains £15mn ($18.5mn) programme towards recycling rare earths. She also pointed to trade deals with Canada and South Africa as key to underpinning the UK's strategy.
But one battery metals trader said the UK government was "tinkering around the edges", making no solid commitments to scaling up manufacturing or production of raw materials.
The UK may struggle to keep pace strategically with China and the US, said Charles Bray, chairman of UK-listed Aterian, which mines niobium, tin and tantalum in Rwanda and copper in Morocco. "As a UK-listed business, we recognise that enabling the right policy to attract the best of industry is vitally important. The energy transition is of such critical importance to all of us. Governments are now waking up to the huge head start China has made," he said, adding that the world is in a "global arms race" for critical minerals.
Related news posts
Fortescue hold firms on 2024-25 iron ore target
Fortescue hold firms on 2024-25 iron ore target
Beijing, 30 August (Argus) — Australian iron ore producer Fortescue has reiterated its iron ore shipment target for the 2024-25 fiscal year ending 30 June of 190mn-200mn t, including 5mn-9mn t from its Iron Bridge project on a 100pc basis. The Iron Bridge magnetite project in Western Australia shipped its first cargo in July last year, with Fortescue's iron ore shipments totalling 191.6mn t for the full year . It had targeted to ship 192mn-197mn t for 2023-24. The company achieved a hematite average revenue of $103/dry metric tonne (dmt), up by 9pc on a year earlier. Hematite C1 costs for 2023-24 rose by 4pc from the previous year to $18.24/wet metric tonne (wmt) because of higher labour rates and mine plan driven cost escalation, although Fortescue said its cost control measures offset the partial increase. It forecasts hematite C1 costs for 2024-25 to rise to $18.50-19.75/wmt. The Argus ICX seaborne iron ore fines assessment for 62pc Fe cfr Qingdao averaged $119.40/dmt for 2023-24. Fortescue is on track to achieve real zero, or no fossil fuels and no offsets, for its scope 1 and 2 terrestrial emissions across its Australian iron ore operations by 2030. It is aiming to achieve this with building a new solar farm, deployment of electric excavators and the use of battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell haul truck prototypes. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US OCTG, line pipe imports fall in July
US OCTG, line pipe imports fall in July
Houston, 29 August (Argus) — Preliminary data from the US Department of Commerce shows that imports of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) and line pipe products fell in July. OCTG volumes fell by 88,100 metric tonnes (t) from the prior year, as volumes from Japan dropped by 15,500t, South Korea and Thailand both dropped by 13,500t, and volumes from Vietnam and Mexico fell by 11,300t and 9,300t, respectively. Volumes of line pipe less than or equal to 16in fell by 12,300t, as Italian volumes dropped by 4,500t, Ukraine dropped to zero from 4,400t in the prior year, and Brazilian volumes fell by 3,100t. Standard pipe imports increased by 13,400t on a 7,900t increase from Turkey. Heavy structural shape volumes jumped by 39,700t as Spanish volumes increased by 21,700t from the prior year, and imports from Germany rose by 9,200t. By Rye Druzchetta US pipe and tube imports metric tonnes Product Jul-24 Jul-23 Volume change ±% Jun-24 OCTG 95,792 183,909 -88,117 -47.9% 126,760 Line pipe 69,387 80,875 -11,488 -14.2% 87,976 Standard 66,100 52,716 13,384 25.4% 76,317 Heavy Structural Shapes 107,979 68,253 39,726 58.2% 54,096 US Department of Commerce July 2024 data is preliminary data, which is subject to change. Line pipe is all diameters. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Higher flats volumes lead US steel imports up
Higher flats volumes lead US steel imports up
Houston, 29 August (Argus) — Higher volumes of flat steel imports led overall US steel imports higher in July. Total US steel imports for consumption were 2.2mn metric tonnes (t) in July, according to preliminary data from the US Department of Commerce. Hot-rolled coil (HRC) imports rose by 22,600t from the prior year, driven by a 32,900t jump in Japanese volumes, which were offset slightly by a 9,200t drop from Canada. Cold-rolled coil (CRC) volumes were up by 37,000t in July, with Canada exporting 8,800t more than the prior year. Hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil imports from Brazil jumped by 17,200t from the prior year, while volumes from Mexico rose by 13,000t. Volumes of blooms, billets and slabs dropped by 121,900t, as Mexico's volumes dropped to zero from 95,800t in the prior year. By Rye Druzchetta US steel imports metric tonnes Product Jul-24 Jul-23 Volume change ±% Jun-24 HRC 156,952 134,326 22,626 16.8% 156,861 CRC 172,746 135,778 36,968 27.2% 113,400 HDG 233,511 165,607 67,904 41.0% 238,809 Blooms, billets, slabs 364,138 486,053 -121,915 -25.1% 395,478 Total (all items)* 2,197,347 2,153,126 44,221 2.1% 1,955,800 US Department of Commerce July 2024 data is preliminary data, which is subject to change. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
ThyssenKrupp Steel executives leave as tensions rise
ThyssenKrupp Steel executives leave as tensions rise
London, 29 August (Argus) — Seven board and supervisory board members of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe have left their positions given deepening strife with the chief executive of parent company ThyssenKrupp. There has been an ongoing dispute between ThyssenKrupp chief executive Miguel Lopez and board members of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, including the latter's chief executive Bernhard Osburg, for some months now over the future of the business. Osburg and two other board members from Steel Europe have now stepped down, as has the chairman of the Steel Europe supervisory board Sigmar Gabriel and three other supervisory board members. The members have "lost all confidence in the will and ability of the chairman of the executive board of ThyssenKrupp AG to co-operate appropriately", Gabriel said in a note after a meeting today. He said Lopez has carried out an "unprecedented" and public campaign against the executive board of Steel Europe, damaging its ability to act and breaching trust. The Steel Europe board had proposed a plan to align the business' production to its recent shipments, meaning a decline from about 12mn t/yr to 9mn t/yr, and to exit from steelmaker HKM's joint venture with Salzgitter and Vallourec. HKM is viewed as a high-cost slab producer. However, Lopez felt the plans did not go far enough to restructure the business, calling for a deeper reorganisation and reduction in headcount. A spokesperson for union IG Metall said it "strongly" supports Osburg and the outgoing chairman, and criticises the actions of Lopez. The union is not legally allowed to call for strike action, but has called for protests over the departures. One executive said the dispute could threaten the future of Steel Europe as an entity. By Colin Richardson Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
![Generic Hero Banner](/_next/image?url=%2F-%2Fmedia%2Fproject%2Fargusmedia%2Fmainsite%2Fimages%2F14-generic-hero-banners%2Fherobanner_1600x530_generic-c.jpg%3Fh%3D530%26iar%3D0%26w%3D1600%26rev%3D8ec86dce0f724687bd325a9a917cffae%26hash%3D9FD39B08C9D84A160C91A3649C40A186&w=3840&q=75)
Business intelligence reports
Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.
Learn more