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doubles down on cobalt","glencore-doubles-down-on-cobalt","article/glencore-doubles-down-on-cobalt",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":563,"content":573,"excerpt":741,"featured":50,"reporter":742,"_editable":746,"component":747,"seo_title":553,"categories":748,"visibility":757,"author_company":49,"featured_image":758,"seo_description":741,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":763,"formattedArticleDate":764},"7baf5e8b-50ce-43aa-8a2d-f61a6ef661d7","2017-06-14 00:00",[560],{"slug":561,"name":562},"glencore","Glencore",[564],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":567},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":568,"image":569,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":570},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":574,"content":575},"doc",[576,583,588,593,598,603,606,611,616,621,626,629,634,639,644,647,654,659,664,669,674,677,681,686,691,696,701,706,711,716,721,726,731,736],{"type":577,"attrs":578,"content":579},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[580],{"text":581,"type":582},"Caspar Rawles asks what the new deal really means for the conglomerate’s future in energy storage","text",{"type":577,"attrs":584,"content":585},{"textAlign":49},[586],{"text":587,"type":582},"Glencore has strengthened its position in cobalt and copper. The mining and trading conglomerate purchased increased stakes in the Mutanda and Katanga copper/cobalt mines in which they already had a majority share.",{"type":577,"attrs":589,"content":590},{"textAlign":49},[591],{"text":592,"type":582},"On the face of it, the deal was expected and logical. The mining and trading conglomerate has made a complete turn-around from the commodities crisis through a process of slashing debt and selling assets.",{"type":577,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596],{"text":597,"type":582},"With prices showing signs of life in many industries, and none more so than lithium ion batteries, Glencore has begun to capitalise by making key deals.",{"type":577,"attrs":599,"content":600},{"textAlign":49},[601],{"text":602,"type":582},"In an announcement by the company on 13th February 2017, it was revealed that Glencore purchased the mines from subsidiaries of Fleurette Properties Limited, the Fleurette group’s remaining 31% stake in Mutanda Mining and a 10.25% stake in Katanga Mining Limited.",{"type":577,"attrs":604,"content":605},{"textAlign":49},[],{"type":577,"attrs":607,"content":608},{"textAlign":49},[609],{"text":610,"type":582},"Source: Glencore",{"type":577,"attrs":612,"content":613},{"textAlign":49},[614],{"text":615,"type":582},"Fleurette is the family holdings company of Dan Gertler, Israeli mining billionaire who has been dogged with accusations in the media of less than transparent dealings, particularly with key Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) politicians to obtain mining assets at a lower cost.",{"type":577,"attrs":617,"content":618},{"textAlign":49},[619],{"text":620,"type":582},"This new deal comprises of valuations of the stake in Mutanda Mining as $922m and $38m for the stake in Katanga mining. The total cash paid to the Fleurette Group will be US$534m million once debts owed to Glencore by Fleurette and its subsidiaries have been paid. Glencore now owns 100% of the shares in Mutanda and 86.33% of the shares in Katanga.",{"type":577,"attrs":622,"content":623},{"textAlign":49},[624],{"text":625,"type":582},"The deal not only allows Glencore to break free from ties with Gertler but importantly, at such a key time, it the company a larger stake in two major assets that will help them ride the wave of expansion in the energy storage market and a rebound in copper demand. Global sentiment on commodity prices is certainly more bullish than has been seen for some time. This is true in copper where we have begun to see a sustained uptick in prices.",{"type":577,"attrs":627,"content":628},{"textAlign":49},[],{"type":577,"attrs":630,"content":631},{"textAlign":49},[632],{"text":633,"type":582},"Cobalt on the other hand has not just seen a sustained uptick but more a surge, leading many to believe it is the next lithium, which has seen price increases of up to five times. The increase in price for cobalt over the past 12 months has been significant.",{"type":577,"attrs":635,"content":636},{"textAlign":49},[637],{"text":638,"type":582},"From February 2016 to February 2017 the price of low grade cobalt metal rose by just over 90%, nearly a doubling of price in 12 months.",{"type":577,"attrs":640,"content":641},{"textAlign":49},[642],{"text":643,"type":582},"Many would believe that this situation would have Glencore and other cobalt producer rubbing their hands with glee. In reality, it has shone the spot light on an industry not ready for the energy storage revolution and opened the door for many new cobalt developers.",{"type":577,"attrs":645,"content":646},{"textAlign":49},[],{"type":648,"attrs":649,"content":651},"heading",{"level":650,"textAlign":49},3,[652],{"text":653,"type":582},"Cobalt’s cathode road",{"type":577,"attrs":655,"content":656},{"textAlign":49},[657],{"text":658,"type":582},"To analyse this, we must take a look at where cobalt fits into energy storage or more specifically lithium ion batteries, the real driver behind the price increase and growth driver for the next decade of cobalt demand.",{"type":577,"attrs":660,"content":661},{"textAlign":49},[662],{"text":663,"type":582},"Cobalt is one of the key minerals used in the cathode of lithium ion batteries, of which there are currently three types of cobalt containing cathode technology.",{"type":577,"attrs":665,"content":666},{"textAlign":49},[667],{"text":668,"type":582},"Lithium-cobalt-oxide (LCO), nickel-cobalt- manganese (NCM) and nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCA). LCO is used for electronics, NCM and NCA are used for EVs. The most cobalt rich of these three chemistries – and by a significant margin – LCO, so theoretically it is the most price sensitive when cobalt sky rockets.",{"type":577,"attrs":670,"content":671},{"textAlign":49},[672],{"text":673,"type":582},"LCO is used in smartphones, tablets, laptops and nearly any portable consumer electronics you can think of. As LCO is used in consumer electronics, the fact that it is very cobalt rich has not caused major issues for manufacturers as the cells are generally small and the products they go into are high value, meaning the cobalt price spike can be absorbed into the final product without too much impact.",{"type":577,"attrs":675,"content":676},{"textAlign":49},[],{"type":577,"attrs":678,"content":679},{"textAlign":49},[680],{"text":610,"type":582},{"type":577,"attrs":682,"content":683},{"textAlign":49},[684],{"text":685,"type":582},"The most recent technology of the three cathode types is NCA. This is the technology developed by Panasonic and used by Tesla. NCA has the lowest cobalt content of all three cathode types in their current stages on development.",{"type":577,"attrs":687,"content":688},{"textAlign":49},[689],{"text":690,"type":582},"Whilst the cost of raw materials must be at the forefront of Tesla’s mind, its business mode is focussed on driving down cell cost via economies of scale in the Gigafactory.",{"type":577,"attrs":692,"content":693},{"textAlign":49},[694],{"text":695,"type":582},"That is not to suggest that Tesla is immune to rising commodity prices, and they have a tall order to secure supply at the low prices it is aiming for, but it is sheltered from cobalt more-so than those using NCM. When NCM was developed, the three minerals in the cathode material came in equal parts, known as NCM 111.",{"type":577,"attrs":697,"content":698},{"textAlign":49},[699],{"text":700,"type":582},"In cobalt’s last price surge in 2008, prices rose to over $50/lb and the cost of cobalt began to eat up margins. Ever since this time, cathode and cell manufacturers began work on reducing the amount of cobalt in the cell and as a result the industry has started to see the emergence of the NCM 523 chemistry, using 5 parts nickel, 2 parts cobalt, 3 parts manganese.",{"type":577,"attrs":702,"content":703},{"textAlign":49},[704],{"text":705,"type":582},"This use of 523 significantly reduces the amount of cobalt needed for the cell to function. The next evolution of these lower cobalt formulas are 622 and 811, both representing major reductions in the cobalt volumes needed.",{"type":577,"attrs":707,"content":708},{"textAlign":49},[709],{"text":710,"type":582},"However, it is very important to note that neither 622 or 811 are ready to use on commercial scale, as both still need significant life cycle and safety development testing – as we have seen with NCM 523, this is by no means a fast process. Benchmark does not expect to this evolution to happen before 2020.",{"type":577,"attrs":712,"content":713},{"textAlign":49},[714],{"text":715,"type":582},"Having said this, the energy storage industry is in innovation mode, and with the cobalt price continuing to steam ahead, it is conceivable that more money and resources will be thrown into high nickel/low cobalt cathodes.",{"type":577,"attrs":717,"content":718},{"textAlign":49},[719],{"text":720,"type":582},"Producers such as Glencore need to be aware of this. So, it begs the question, was the Glencore/Fleurette deal a move to make the most of climbing commodity prices? Or was it a move by Glencore to allow for more rapid expansion with the goal to keep supply up with the expected demand surge and prices lower?",{"type":577,"attrs":722,"content":723},{"textAlign":49},[724],{"text":725,"type":582},"By the end of 2020, Benchmark expects cobalt demand from battery industry to have reached 74,800 tonnes up from 48,000 tonnes in 2016.",{"type":577,"attrs":727,"content":728},{"textAlign":49},[729],{"text":730,"type":582},"This is significant on a 93,000 tonne per year industry. Glencore already has an expansion in the pipeline with a return from care and maintenance of Katanga Mining and the possibility of early production in late 2017 or early 2018.",{"type":577,"attrs":732,"content":733},{"textAlign":49},[734],{"text":735,"type":582},"Whilst there has been no official announcement of production figures it is expected to be significant – the latest technical report for the project indicates a total finished capacity of 30,000 tpa although it is expected that the first phase of production will be significantly lower than this figure.",{"type":577,"attrs":737,"content":738},{"textAlign":49},[739],{"text":740,"type":582},"In addition, plant optimisation saw an 8,000 tonne per year increase at Mutanda from 16,500 tonnes in 2015 to 24,500 in 2016. Could there be further expansions in the pipeline? It seems quite likely.","Caspar Rawles asks what the new deal really means for the conglomerate’s future in energy storage Glencore has strengthened its position in cobalt and copper. The mining and trading conglomerate purchased increased stakes in the Mutanda and Katanga copper/cobalt mines in which they already had a majority share. On the face of it, the deal […]",[743],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":744},{"job_title":568,"image":745,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},{"filename":570},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"7baf5e8b-50ce-43aa-8a2d-f61a6ef661d7\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[749,752,754],{"slug":750,"name":751},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":753,"name":115},"cobalt",{"slug":755,"name":756},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":759,"name":759,"focus":759,"title":759,"source":759,"filename":760,"copyright":759,"fieldtype":761,"meta_data":762,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/105917f6ca/bm-screen-shot-2017-06-14-at-141634.png","asset",{"alt":759,"title":759,"source":759,"copyright":759},"Jun 14, 2017","14th June 2017",[],[],1792773945885]