News
Less apocalyptic than six weeks ago
Blue View 10 Nov 2022A review of this week’s Fastmarkets Ferroalloys Conference in Prague.
BorgWarner to supply permanent magnet motors to European light-duty vehicles
Blue View 09 Nov 2022Europe’s light duty commercial trucks are geared up to use BorgWarner’s HVH250 internal permanent magnet motor (IPM), with production expected in 2023.
Foxconn grows stake in US EV truck manufacturer Lordstown
Blue View 09 Nov 2022Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, increased its stake in loss-making US electric truck manufacturer to 18.3% with an investment now totalling around US$170 million.
More niobium capacity needed if nanocrystalline and battery demand grows as expected
Blue View 08 Nov 2022Project Blue expects new technologies to gain niobium market share over the years ahead
Manganese ore supply ramps up in Gabon
Blue View 07 Nov 2022Eramet announced an overall increase in manganese ore production (+6%) and turnover (+46%) in Q3 2022, despite the declining global ferroalloy production and a surplus in Chinese port ore inventories.
Solvay and Orbia join forces to develop battery supply chains of fluorspar in North America
Blue View 07 Nov 2022Solvay and Orbia are set to create a JV in North America for the region's largest polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) capacity for battery materials.
Anglo American publishes its climate change report
Blue View 04 Nov 2022Anglo American has published a climate change report, addressing ways for the company to reduce diesel and energy consumption while increasing the renewable energy mix.
CATL takes 25% share in cobalt giant CMOC
Blue View 03 Nov 2022The move gives CATL a sizable stake in some of the world’s most important cobalt assets.
Indonesia mulls OPEC-style cartel for battery metals
Blue View 03 Nov 2022Indonesia’s Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia proposed the idea of creating an OPEC-like cartel for battery metals in an interview with the Financial Times.
More cobalt capacity planned in the USA
Blue View 02 Nov 2022Trafigura and EVelution Energy are planning a 7ktpy facility for cobalt sulphate in Arizona.
More gold projects looking at by-product antimony
Blue View 02 Nov 2022Antilles Gold announced that it received interest in by-product antimony contained in its gold-rich concentrates from its La Demajagua project in Cuba.
Solar salt fortunes dependent on chloralkali outlook
Announcement 01 Nov 2022Project Blue’s Salt Market Service explores the regional demand trends of the salt industry with key supply chain risks impacting the market balance.
Iluka inks heavy rare earth supply from Northern Minerals
Blue View 31 Oct 2022Australian-based companies, Northern Minerals and Iluka Resources, have inked a rare earth element (REE) concentrate supply agreement covering the initial 8-year-plus mine life of Northern Minerals' Browns Range project in Western Australia.
A short-lived September bounce in steel production and an update on GDP trends in China
Blue View 31 Oct 2022September global crude steel production posted a 3.7% year-on-year increase driven by China as steel mills’ utilisation rate rose. In the rest of the world, steel output remained largely negative on a year-on-year basis, still impacted by a deteriorating macro environment and the conflict in Ukraine.
Key takeaways from ICDA’s chromium conference in Turkey
Events 28 Oct 2022The International Chromium Development Association (ICDA) returned after a three-year absence with its annual chromium industry conference, held in Turkey this year.
Ramu nickel and cobalt output up in Q3
Blue View 28 Oct 2022Nickel 28, the 8.56% JV partner of the Ramu operation in Papua New Guinea, released its Q3 2022 nickel and cobalt production statistic of 8.9kt Ni and 0.8kt Co-in-MHP.
Imerys targets European production of 34,000 tonnes per year of lithium hydroxide
Blue View 27 Oct 2022Imerys has announced the launch of its EMILI lithium exploitation project at its Beauvoir site, which has been producing kaolin for more than a hundred years. The company aims to produce 34,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide per year from 2028.
Ford’s focus on Mustang makes it second biggest electric car manufacturer in the US
Blue View 27 Oct 2022Ford currently trails only Tesla in sales of retail electric vehicles (EVs) in the US, largely down to the success of its Mustang Mach E. The company’s September EV sales increased by almost 3x year-on-year.
Glencore-Merafe ferrochrome production down in Q3
Blue View 26 Oct 2022Merafe Resources, the 20.5% JV partner of Glencore’s ferrochrome business in South Africa, released its Q3 2022 attributable ferrochrome production statistic of 84kt.
“Peak cobalt” to be reached in the 2030s?
Announcement 25 Oct 2022Project Blue’s Cobalt Market Service explores whether substitution will lead to an eventual decline in year-on-year cobalt consumption.
Rare Earth conference in Las Vegas – how to build an ex-China supply chain
Events 24 Oct 2022Project Blue joined the Metal Events 18th International Rare Earth conference in Las Vegas. The first time going west for the conference attracted a large US delegate representation.