Category: Nickel
Volkwagen invests USD$100m in solid-state battery research firm
Volkswagen is investing USD$100m in QuantumScape to accelerate the commercialization of its solid-state battery business. Solid-state batteries are a rival technology to lithium-ion batteries with advantages such as higher energy density, enhanced safety, fast-charging capability and significantly less space requirements. A successful...
After cobalt-free pledge, Panasonic to triple consumption for auto batteries – sources
LONDON, June 14 (Reuters) – Panasonic Corp expects to more than triple its cobalt consumption in five years’ time, industry sources said, even as the company aims to develop cobalt-free automotive batteries in the near future. Panasonic is the exclusive...
Japan's Sumitomo Metal says global nickel deficit to widen this year
TOKYO, June 14 (Reuters) – Sumitomo Metal Mining, Japan’s biggest nickel smelter, expects a global nickel market deficit to widen to 88,000 tonnes this year, from 72,000 tonnes last year, amid solid demand for stainless steel and batteries, an official...
Nickel prices expected to settle after Russia sanctions fade
Nickel was last traded at $14,735 per tonne, up 20.2% on a year-to-date basis emerging as the strongest performing base metal so far this year. FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists predict nickel prices to ease off over the short term after...
Glencore, Barrick expect prospecting licence for Tanzania nickel project
LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) – Global miners Glencore and Barrick Gold expect to receive a prospecting licence for a nickel joint venture in Tanzania after the government cancelled its retention licence, Barrick said. The retention licence of the undeveloped Kabanga...
Tesla delivers bad news for cobalt price, boost for rare earths
Wall Street is aghast at Elon Musk’s dismissive attitude toward analysts’ probing following a quarter of record (but less than expected) losses for Tesla, but the electric vehicle maker did provide some answers to questions that’s been vexing the mining...
Vale unsure if New Caledonia nickel operations will continue
RIO DE JANEIRO, April 26 (Reuters) – Brazil’s Vale hopes to find a partner for its struggling New Caledonia nickel mine by the end of the year but it is not clear if the world’s largest nickel producer will continue...
Russia's Nornickel cuts 2018 output forecast for copper project
MOSCOW, April 26 (Reuters) – Russia’s Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel) has cut the 2018 production forecast for its new Bystrinsky copper project near the Chinese border due to a problem with equipment which it hopes to fix in the second quarter,...
Brazil's Vale 1st-qtr profit slumps by a third as costs rise
Vale SA, the world’s largest iron ore producer, posted a 36 percent slump in first-quarter profit compared to the same quarter a year earlier, missing estimates, as costs rose and iron ore prices slipped, results showed on Wednesday. In a...
Cuba sees 2018 nickel plus cobalt output topping 50,000 tonnes
HAVANA, April 24 (Reuters) – Cuba forecasts nickel plus cobalt sulfide production will exceed 50,000 tonnes this year even as prices rise, the head of the country’s state monopoly Cubaniquel was quoted by local media as stating on Tuesday. Nickel...
LME to temporarily move nickel closing prices out of ring
The London Metal Exchange (LME) is planning to move end-of-day pricing of the benchmark three-month nickel contract from open outcry to its electronic trading platform for a trial period, LME chief Matt Chamberlain said on Monday. The temporary move is...
Commodities: the top asset class of 2018 so far
Story by Jeff Desjardins Is the commodity supercycle coming back from the dead? For now, such a claim could perhaps be considered both bold and premature – but there does seem to be some compelling evidence that is mounting to...