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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[518,519,520,522,524,526,528,530,532,534,536,538],{"date":213,"value":512},{"date":216,"value":513},{"date":219,"value":521},99.19,{"date":222,"value":523},96.02,{"date":225,"value":525},98.23,{"date":467,"value":527},99.24,{"date":329,"value":529},101.29,{"date":339,"value":531},87.61,{"date":341,"value":533},92.44,{"date":344,"value":535},90.96,{"date":347,"value":537},92.24,{"date":350,"value":539},95.09,{"id":541,"uuid":542,"name":543,"slug":544,"full_slug":545,"content":546,"relatedArticles":712,"relatedVideos":713},112469149754461,"7047769d-9d62-4762-8f1b-0b819eac65ef","US EXIM Bank backs domestic cobalt production with US Strategic Metals loan","us-exim-bank-backs-domestic-cobalt-production-with-us-strategic-metals-loan","article/us-exim-bank-backs-domestic-cobalt-production-with-us-strategic-metals-loan",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":556,"content":566,"excerpt":689,"featured":51,"reporter":690,"_editable":694,"component":695,"seo_title":543,"categories":696,"visibility":705,"author_company":49,"featured_image":706,"seo_description":689,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":710,"formattedArticleDate":711},"6f1c701c-d0e8-4c89-931d-0ab5e6a31ffb","2024-08-16 00:00",[550,553],{"slug":551,"name":552},"inflation-reduction-act","Inflation Reduction Act",{"slug":554,"name":555},"usa","USA",[557],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":560},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":561,"image":562,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":563},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":567,"content":568},"doc",[569,576,591,596,609,616,626,631,636,641,650,655,660,671,684],{"type":570,"attrs":571,"content":572},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[573],{"text":574,"type":575},"US Strategic Metals (USSM) has signed a non-binding Letter of Interest (LOI) for a potential $400 million debt financing package with the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM Bank), progressing efforts towards on-shoring and friend-shoring US critical mineral supply chains.  ","text",{"type":570,"attrs":577,"content":578},{"textAlign":49},[579,581,589],{"text":580,"type":575},"The EXIM loan spans up to a potential 15 years, and alongside existing equity and credit facilities, will reportedly cover the majority of the capital necessary to complete USSM’s Madison project in Missouri. The project is due to come into production in 2024, according to the ",{"text":582,"type":575,"marks":583},"Benchmark Cobalt Forecast",[584],{"type":585,"attrs":586},"link",{"href":587,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":588},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/cobalt/portal/","url",{"text":590,"type":575},", ramping up production to 1,500 tonnes per annum by the second year of operation.",{"type":570,"attrs":592,"content":593},{"textAlign":49},[594],{"text":595,"type":575},"The financing is covered under EXIM Bank’s China and Transformational Export Program, aimed at assisting US companies facing competition from China in strategic sectors like renewable energy and critical minerals. ",{"type":570,"attrs":597,"content":598},{"textAlign":49},[599,601,607],{"text":600,"type":575},"USSM enters a growing rank of critical mineral projects to receive funding from EXIM Bank. In June, fellow cobalt aspirant, ",{"text":602,"type":575,"marks":603},"Chilean Cobalt Corp, signed a LOI of up to $317.3 million to advance the restart of the La Cobaltera cobalt-copper mine in the San Juan District of northern Chile",[604],{"type":585,"attrs":605},{"href":606,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":588},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/us-exim-bank-boosts-chiles-cobalt-ambitions-in-effort-to-build-ex-china-supply-chain",{"text":608,"type":575},". ",{"type":610,"attrs":611,"content":613},"heading",{"level":612,"textAlign":49},4,[614],{"text":615,"type":575},"US-focused supply chain progresses ",{"type":570,"attrs":617,"content":618},{"textAlign":49},[619,621],{"text":620,"type":575},"The Madison project is one of a handful of US pipeline cobalt projects due to enter into production this decade: accounting for up to 50% of US cobalt production by 2030, according to ",{"text":622,"type":575,"marks":623},"Benchmark.",[624],{"type":585,"attrs":625},{"href":587,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":588},{"type":570,"attrs":627,"content":628},{"textAlign":49},[629],{"text":630,"type":575},"Cobalt supply from US and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) regions – qualified to receive Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits – is due to increase threefold over this period; Australia, Canada, and Chile will account for the majority of the growth.",{"type":570,"attrs":632,"content":633},{"textAlign":49},[634],{"text":635,"type":575},"Despite positive efforts to expedite the development timeline for cobalt projects in the US and FTA economies, the US is unlikely to break its supply dependence on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as battery demand continues to grow. ",{"type":570,"attrs":637,"content":638},{"textAlign":49},[639],{"text":640,"type":575},"Benchmark estimates the gap between US cobalt demand and US + FTA agreement mined cobalt supply to be 79% in 2023, a figure rising to over 80% by the end of the decade – despite more stringent sourcing requirements under the IRA coming into effect.",{"type":570,"attrs":642,"content":643},{"textAlign":49},[644],{"type":645,"attrs":646},"image",{"id":49,"alt":647,"src":648,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":649},"","https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcXbKlBHa9zXN6QPV_w9lpxsMAHnCbvZecYm4zDuAFcJp2DbeeZnlOMHuRCAz7PZKA0jaKZJ9nWQrd8KWWNRytwLdGoW-f_O9DHO8Uv01_pMB8RGnvdGIUT_U7QEknarODun0gxIgAvvV73k8Q0FdhUVOYV?key=RR9z4MSXpp5oIwnMfIIEYg",{},{"type":570,"attrs":651,"content":652},{"textAlign":49},[653],{"text":654,"type":575},"Rather, it is at the refining stage of the supply chain where the US is likely to see the most success in breaking its grip on the China-dominant cobalt supply chain. China accounts for 76% of refined cobalt production, but the timeline for building out new refining capacity is much shorter and less capital intensive.",{"type":570,"attrs":656,"content":657},{"textAlign":49},[658],{"text":659,"type":575},"However, this will also require a stable and secure supply of mined cobalt from mines that satisfies IRA sourcing requirements, such as not being in breach of foreign entity of concern (FEOC) rules. ",{"type":570,"attrs":661,"content":662},{"textAlign":49},[663,665],{"text":664,"type":575},"Bearish market fundamentals are creating future supply risk for the US battery industry. A rapid ramp up of new supply from Chinese-owned operations in the DRC has helped to sustain a market oversupply, as ",{"text":666,"type":575,"marks":667},"demand from electric vehicles has also slowed.",[668],{"type":585,"attrs":669},{"href":670,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":588},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/how-bad-is-the-electric-vehicle-slowdown",{"type":570,"attrs":672,"content":673},{"textAlign":49},[674,676,682],{"text":675,"type":575},"Cobalt prices have fallen to their lowest level ever ",{"text":677,"type":575,"marks":678},"recorded by Benchmark",[679],{"type":585,"attrs":680},{"href":681,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":588},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/cobalt/data-reports/price-assessments/",{"text":683,"type":575}," in August. And this low price environment is resulting in a supply response from established producers. ",{"type":570,"attrs":685,"content":686},{"textAlign":49},[687],{"text":688,"type":575},"Glencore announced that cobalt production was down 27% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period a year before, while also revealing it would cease cobalt stockpiling due to falling prices.","US Strategic Metals (USSM) has signed a non-binding Letter of Interest (LOI) for a potential $400 million debt financing package with the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM Bank), progressing efforts towards on-shoring and friend-shoring US critical mineral supply chains. The EXIM loan spans up to a potential 15 years, and alongside existing equity […]",[691],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":692},{"job_title":561,"image":693,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},{"filename":563},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"6f1c701c-d0e8-4c89-931d-0ab5e6a31ffb\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[697,699,702],{"slug":698,"name":115},"cobalt",{"slug":700,"name":701},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":703,"name":704},"geopolitics","Geopolitics","private",{"id":49,"alt":647,"name":647,"focus":647,"title":647,"source":647,"filename":707,"copyright":647,"fieldtype":708,"meta_data":709,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/e391ad2ce5/bm-dollars-picture.jpg","asset",{"alt":647,"title":647,"source":647,"copyright":647},"Aug 16, 2024","16th August 2024",[],[],1784633805715]