Ellie Saklatvala, Senior Editor — Nonferrous Metals, provides a bitesize overview of the key price movements that happened in Q1 and how supply and demand fundamentals are shaping up as we move through Q2.
Spotlight content
Related news
Vietnam’s Vinfast cuts EV sales goal, delays US plant
Vietnam’s Vinfast cuts EV sales goal, delays US plant
Singapore, 15 July (Argus) — Vietnam-based electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Vinfast Auto has lowered its 2024 EV delivery goal and delayed its North Carolina EV plant's first production by three years, because of economic headwinds. "We have adopted a more prudent outlook that is carefully calibrated to near-term headwinds, taking into full consideration the realities of market volatility and potential challenges," said the chairwoman of Vinfast's board of directors Le Thi Thu Thuy on 12 June. Vinfast now expects to deliver 80,000 EVs in 2024, down from the 100,000 units it set earlier this year and having missed its delivery goal of 40,000-50,000 last year. Vinfast delivered 21,747 EVs in January-June, almost doubling on the year, according to the company. Its EV sales over April-June stood at 12,058 units, up by 24pc on the quarter and 26pc on the year. It started building a $2bn EV factory in US North Carolina's Chatham county last year, with output scheduled to begin in 2025 . But the firm has now made the "strategic decision" to push it back to 2028, Vinfast said. VinFast earlier this year said that it would invest $2bn in south India's Tamil Nadu state to develop its EV sector, including building an EV plant that can produce 150,000 units/yr. The plant will be "opened" in the first half of 2025, said Vingroup's chairman Pham Nhat Vuong last month, adding that India will be Vinfast's biggest Asia market. The global battery and EV sectors have been facing various economic and geopolitical headwinds. This includes persistently elevated interest rates that are curbing consumer spending, and rising geopolitical market barriers starting with the US and EU's tariffs on Chinese EVs, as well as Canada looking into potential punitive duties on Chinese EVs. By Joseph Ho Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Germany's Aurubis copper smelter back from maintenance
Germany's Aurubis copper smelter back from maintenance
London, 12 July (Argus) — Germany's Aurubis today announced that its Hamburg copper smelter returned to service on 11 July from the largest maintenance shutdown in the company's history that began 7 May. A restart is now under way following the €95mn 60-day maintenance that included an overhaul of the flash smelter, installation of heat exchangers in the contact acid plant, as well as the installation of a tap hold drill and tamping machine for improved safety of copper slag tapping. Hydrogen-ready anode furnaces were also installed as measures to improve sustainability. Investments in automation are set to improve efficiency and extend the frequency of planned maintenance rounds to three years from two. The Hamburg smelter's outage has exacerbated sulphuric acid tightness in Europe , and the operational restart is expected to provide some relief to the market. This comes in addition to the lack of availability of molten sulphur in the region, leading to shortages of sulphur burnt acid , which has prompted some consumers to replace burnt acid with smelter acid, lifting demand. Aurubis produced 1.19mn t of sulphuric acid during the first six months of the 2023-24 financial year (October-March), up by 1pc on the same period a year earlier. Output at Aurubis' Hamburg smelter rose by 11pc to 512,000t in the period, while output from the Pirdop smelter saw a 6pc decline on the period to 679,000t . For the first three months of the year, Aurubis produced 598,000t of acid, unchanged from the same quarter of 2022-23, as increased output at its Hamburg smelter offset a decline from Bulgaria's Pirdop plant. Production at Hamburg totalled 258,000t from January-March. By Maria Mosquera Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia’s BHP to import sulphuric acid for Lynas
Australia’s BHP to import sulphuric acid for Lynas
Singapore, 12 July (Argus) — Australian resources firm BHP has "affirmed its commitment to using reasonable efforts" to supply imported acid to Australia-listed mining company Lynas Rare Earths, Lynas said today. This comes after BHP announced a temporary suspension of its Western Australia nickel business from October, citing bearish expectations against nickel prices. Lynas has a supply contract with BHP Nickel West for the provision of sulphuric acid from the Kalgoorlie nickel smelter or imported sources to its Kalgoorlie rare earths processing facility, with the initial term until 30 June 2027. By Deon Ngee Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia’s QPM gets $5.4mn for battery chemical hub
Australia’s QPM gets $5.4mn for battery chemical hub
Singapore, 11 July (Argus) — The Australian federal government has awarded an A$8mn ($5.41mn) grant to the country's battery materials developer Queensland Pacific Metals (QPM) for its Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub (Tech) project, which produces chemicals for lithium-ion batteries. The grant, awarded under the International Partnerships in Critical Minerals programme, is subject to matched funding and an agreed project scope. QPM said the matched funding would be sourced independently, without affecting its gas and energy business, adding that discussions to secure the funds are ongoing. The grant would be used for the commercial validation of the Tech project to produce nickel and cobalt sulphates, as well as other valuable co-products. QPM has been seeking independent funding for the progress of the project. The validation stage includes testing work, piloting, and engineering to produce a bankable feasible study. The project aims to produce around 16,000 t/yr of nickel sulphate and 1,750 t/yr of cobalt sulphate for the electric vehicle and energy storage battery market. The funding for Tech was reduced in February , given a "challenging investment environment," owing to a downtrend in nickel and lithium prices. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
