| Click on blue article title to read full story. | | | | Cobalt | | | | Metal Bulletin - January 23, 2018 The cheapest offers for cobalt units dried up last week with spot material in tight supply, while some potential buyers put purchases on... Metal Bulletin assessed benchmark low-grade cobalt prices at $36.75-37.40 per lb on Friday January 19, up 25 cents on the low end compared High-grade prices gained 5 cents on the high end of the assessment on January 19, now at $37-38.05 per lb, in-warehouse…Demand remains healthy, with a limited number of sellers able or willing to offer material to a steady number of spot inquiries, market participants told Metal Bulletin…“It ties back to the fact we’ve had downstream investment without the equivalent upstream,” a trader said…The demand outlook continues to give sellers the upper hand in negotiations, others added. | | | | | EVs | | | | Canadian Mining Journal - January 23, 2018 batteries are composed of three parts: NCM batteries contain nickel, manganese and cobalt oxide, while NCA batteries contain nickel, cobalt “With local sources pointing to the fact that over 60% of imported nickel sulphate is used in the production of ternary materials for NCM/NCA batteries, it is evident that China is laying the ground to support her capabilities in this field,” Wood Mackenzie states. (Lithium-ion batteries are composed of three parts: NCM batteries contain nickel, manganese and cobalt oxide, while NCA batteries contain nickel, cobalt and aluminum oxide….Subsidies in China for electric cars that have greater ranges complement the Ministry of Finance’s latest tweaks to the nation’s import taxes, Wood Mackenzie says. | | Yonhap News Agency - January 24, 2018 SEOUL, Jan. 24 (Yonhap) -- POSCO, the world's fifth-biggest steelmaker by output, said Wednesday that it has partnered with Zhejiang Huayou...... global demand for cobalt, a core material needed to produce lithium ion batteries. It also has its own cobalt and nickel mines, according to POSCO, the world's fifth-biggest steelmaker by output, said Wednesday that it has partnered with Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. to enter the Chinese lithium ion battery market…POSCO said it set up two separate joint ventures with the Chinese cobalt company on Jan. 10 to produce precursors and cathodes in China's eastern province of Zhejiang from the second half of 2020…As each government goes environmentally friendly, the demand for car batteries, energy storage systems for buildings and large-sized batteries for information technology companies is on the rise, it said…The world's cathode market is expected to grow more than four times to 860,000 tons in 2020 from 210,000 tons in 2016, POSCO said | | Bloomberg - January 24, 2018 Company seeks deals to support global charging infrastructure CEO Starace speaks in an interview from Davos, Switzerland provider EnerNOC Inc and in May it acquired Tynemouth, a standalone battery energystorage system project in Newcastle, U.K. In December, Europe’s largest utility is moving fast to benefit from the sudden surge in electric car consumption by offering charging services and developing technologies for station networks, Chief Executive Officer Francesco Starace said…Enel is focusing on installation of new charging stations and acquisitions in the technology industry to support its global charging infrastructure, as well as “mid-size acquisitions” in the electricity networks industry, Starace said. “There are opportunities we are looking at right now,” he said… “Electric cars are coming,” Starace said. | | | | |