| Click on blue article title to read full story. | | | | Cobalt | | | | Cetusnews.com - April 2, 2018 The metal is one of this year’s best-performing assets, surging more than 20% and outpacing other commodities. Raw cobalt rolls along at a...... Cobalt prices have continued to climb even as some of the shares of tech companies, which need the metal for batteries and computer chips, have stumbled Cobalt prices have extended a record run with demand forecasts holding steady and the supply outlook looking uncertain because of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s dominance as a source of the metal…But the prospect of higher supply is still likely years away, industry executives say, as fully substituting other metals for cobalt is a lengthy process…“At the moment, there is no real way to get away from cobalt,” said Simona Gambarini, commodities economist at research firm Capital Economics…With cobalt, some say the market won’t have the metal it needs until new projects outside Congo start producing it… “More than anything it’s being driven by a fundamental lack of metal,” said George Heppel, an analyst at commodity research firm CRU. | | Nikkei Asian Review - April 3, 2018 Glencore deal a boon to the country's electric vehicle ambitions While automakers and other big cobalt users are trying to strike deals directly with mining companies, China looks like it is trying to corner the global cobalt market…Global demand for cobalt is bound to further swell as the global auto industry gears up to produce more electric vehicles. And one country, Congo, produces about 65% of the world's cobalt…Large consumers like Apple and BMW have started making efforts to purchase cobalt directly from mining companies to ensure that the metal in batteries they make or supply is not mined by children…China has failed to nurture an internationally competitive auto industry because its internal-combustion engines are inferior to those made in Japan and Germany. China is now trying to accelerate a shift to electric vehicles…China sees this shift as an opportunity to establish technological leadership in the global auto sector…GEM's deal with Glencore is a strategic move toward this end. | | Resource World Magazine - April 2, 2018 What size is the team at Metal Bulletin Group that covers cobalt? AH: Cobalt is priced by members of Metal Bulletin’s global minor metals, Metal Bulletin uses a survey method and expert judgement to provide its assessments of cobalt metal prices, which are published in a range twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays. By survey method we mean that we poll market participants about the level at which they have transacted business; made firm bids or offers; heard transactions; or would assess a representative range themselves…Metal Bulletin’s assessment of the spot market is accepted as a ‘fair’ market price, which reflects the fundamentals of the market and is used as the global benchmark for the sale and purchase of physical material…Its widespread use by the physical cobalt market generates industry involvement in the price discovery process. | | | | | EVs & Energy Storage | | | | Automotive Electronics News - ElectronicSpecifier - April 3, 2018 Hitachi, Mitsubishi Motors and ENGIE have demonstrated a pioneering project to explore the potential for Electric Vehicles to act as a... 's V2X Charger is the first recharger that cannot only recharge an electric car but can also discharge the energy back into the building/ Hitachi, Mitsubishi Motors and ENGIE have demonstrated a pioneering project to explore the potential for Electric Vehicles to act as a means of energy storage for an office building….The V2X Charger is connected to the building's energy supply and, when the building generates more solar power than it needs, this excess energy is stored in the battery of the electric car. This energy can then be discharged back into the grid when appropriate. The car battery therefore acts as an energy storage source, as well as an emergency power supply…Discussing the growing role for electric vehicles in powering the development of smart cities, Vincent Cobee, Corporate Vice President at Mitsubishi Motors, added: "This demonstration will help providing a new energy solution for energy efficient, low carbon smart buildings. We are aiming to show that EVs and PHEVs can be a vital component of urban energy in the future." | | USA TODAY - April 3, 2018 Hyundai Kona, Jaguar I-Pace have size, range EV. “We found one of the key reasons people decided against buying an electric vehiclewas ‘range anxiety,’ ” said Brandon Ramirez, senior For drivers who make up excuses to talk themselves out of buying an electric vehicle, two major objections just got crossed off the list: size and range…Both the Hyundai Kona Electric and Jaguar I-Pace have more than double the range of first-generation electric vehicles, dispelling one issue that has held down sales. I-Pace is rated at 240 miles of range, and Kona Electric gets a whopping 250 miles per charge…Both are roomy SUVs with battery packs configured in a way that it doesn’t eat into interior space. With room for five and all of their gear, these new family haulers contrast with earlier electric cars that were based on compact vehicles, usually with sub-100 mile range…The latest crop of EVs is being driven by advances in technology. The lithium-ion batteries that power them are getting better and cheaper. | | | | | Congo | | | | The Guardian - April 2, 2018 Starving and sick, people living in the Democratic Republic of Congo are caught in a bloody cycle of violence and political turmoil prized in the developed world are scratched from the ground by artisanal miners. Leaders of the many local rebel groups say they are acting Such scrappy, bloody confrontations have become an almost daily occurrence… “I was just a foot soldier so I don’t really know why we were fighting,” he said. “There are lots of reasons I think .... I don’t think the wars here will ever stop. They will probably get worse.”..Kapitu’s analysis is shared by many. The vast central African country has been hit by waves of violence, rebellions, protests and political turmoil in recent months, leading to worries about a new civil war like that which killed five million people between 1997 and 2003…Across the country the security situation has deteriorated markedly as government authority has collapsed, emboldening rival militia groups who hold sway over large areas of territory, often competing for the DRC’s rich resources…The president, Joseph Kabila, is desperately clinging to power as various groups and individuals use violence to gain cash, territory and support before possible elections later this year…More than 4.5 million people are displaced, the highest number in the DRC for more than 20 years, latest figures show. There are outbreaks of cholera. The fighting is, as Kapitu feared, getting worse…The crises have been exacerbated by an absence of international forces. The United Nations mission in the DRC is the largest and most expensive peacekeeping effort, but five UN bases near Masisi were shut last year, following a US-led push to cut costs…Meanwhile the country has been roiled by protests, often bloodily repressed, since Kabila’s second electoral mandate expired 15 months ago. A rebellion in central provinces cost thousands of lives last year and there have been a series of mass prison breaks…“There is a lack of political will to crack down on the militia ... The only way this regime can keep power is to maintain a situation which allows them to keep pillaging. Each armed group can be tied to an official in Kinshasa, either in government or in the army,” said Fidel Bafilenda, an analyst in Goma. | | | | | | |