We live in a global business environment, though currently we seem detached due to the fight against the Corona Pandemic, business goes on and this too shall pass. Elon Musk is already preparing for the conquest of space with SpaceX and the fierce battle for market share in the automotive sector continues. Raw materials are a key component of the manufacturing industry. Therefore, those who can secure access to rare raw materials often gain a decisive competitive advantage. These raw materials can also come in the form of gases and are of crucial importance, especially if they are irreplaceable and cannot be produced artificially.
Access to critical raw materials
Tungsten is one of the hardest materials on earth. The use of this metal is diverse and often significant. In the past, probably the best-known use of tungsten was as a filament in light bulbs. Nowadays the raw material is very often used in the production of alloys. But tungsten is also used in the production of electronic components.
Due to its special hardness, components and products made of tungsten are used in the military and aerospace industries.
The EU has classified tungsten as a critical raw material. Anyone who has access to this raw material in legally secure regions can count on state support.
Almonty (TSX: AII) is one company that benefits from this advantage, because the company owns the Sangdong Mine in South Korea, where the world’s largest tungsten deposits are believed to be found.
To enable the company to press ahead with the extraction of the raw material, the German Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) has committed a senior project financing loan of USD 76 million. First Berlin analysts, recommend Almonty stock as a 'buy' with a target price of CAD 1.45.
Internal combustion engines save the fiscal year
In Europe, the Chinese car manufacturer
BYD (FSE: BY6) is regarded by investors as a trend indicator for the industry in Asia. The company sells electric vehicles, but also offers those with traditional internal combustion engines. In the first eight months of 2019, BYD sold a total of 295,066 vehicles.
Due to the corona pandemic and the reduction of government subsidies for electric vehicles, sales in the same period in 2020 fell by 23.14% to only 226,792 vehicles.
Sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles fell sharply by 66.2% from 56,572 to 19,122. Sales of SUVs with internal combustion engines increased significantly by 116.3% from 47,157 to 102,002 vehicles.
The bottom line is that sales of electric vehicles have halved in the first eight months of 2020 and sales of internal combustion engines have increased by 16.9%. BYD's market capitalization has risen to over EUR 9.6 billion in the past few days. Those who have already invested for 12 months have more than doubled their investment.
Many customers, little competition
The Canadian company
Royal Helium (TSXV: RHC) focuses on the extraction of the noble gas, helium. The gas cannot be produced artificially and it is usually extracted from underground deposits.
Royal Helium has access to around 400,000 hectares of licenses for the noble gas in North America, making it one of the largest market players. The helium market is a niche market and anyone wishing to invest in a company in this sector does not have much choice.
With growing demand in the healthcare sector and in manufacturing, additional demand is coming from the aerospace industry. The US space agency NASA is already the largest consumer of the noble gas.
Given that Elon Musk is forging major space plans with SpaceX, the demand for helium is likely to increase further. In Great Britain, the company 'Hybrid Air Vehicles' is already a major customer for the noble gas. The company developed the Airlander, the largest aircraft in the world that uses helium. In a few years, several hundred of these aircraft are expected to be in service worldwide.
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