Zinc extended gains to a five-week high as investors unwind big bearish bets, with signs of tighter supplies and buoyant commodities demand in China brightening the outlook for the metal. Prices rose as much as 1.8% to $2,540 a ton, continuing a rebound that brokers say has been driven by investors closing short positions on […]
Battery Metals
Goldman Sachs: Price Rout in Key Battery Metals Isn’t Over
Sizeable surpluses in the lithium, cobalt, and nickel markets have led to a plunge in the prices of key battery metals over the past year and a half. The price rout is far from over, according to Goldman Sachs. Prices still have room to drop, and the end of the bear markets is nowhere in […]
Goldman says the bear market for battery metal prices is far from over
Goldman Sachs finds it is too early to call an end to a battery raw materials price plunge, warning that significant supply pipelines and Western electric vehicle headwinds could keep prices lower for longer. The forecast, which is part of a research note published on Tuesday, follows a sharp downturn in the price for some […]
Gold price flirts with new highs with market leaning towards June rate cut
Gold prices flirted with record highs on Monday as investors continue to bet on the safe-haven metal in anticipation of a US Federal Reserve interest rate cut this June. Spot gold rose 1.5% to $2,115.43 per ounce by 2:35 p.m. EDT, just $20 off its record high of $2,135 set in December 2023. US gold […]
As batteries demand more cobalt, scientists figure out how to use less for blue pigments
Researchers have discovered a new cobalt-doped barium aluminosilicate colourant that withstands the high temperatures found in a kiln and provides a bright colour to glazed tiles. In a paper published in the journal ACS Applied Optical Materials, the scientists point out that many brilliant blue pigments—like those in antique Chinese porcelain or works by Claude […]
Exxon aims to make key lithium technology decision by year-end
Exxon Mobil plans to decide by the end of the year which lithium filtration technology it will use in Arkansas as part of its push to become one of the world’s top producers of the battery metal, an executive said on Thursday. The company last fall announced its long-anticipated plan to filter lithium from the […]
Gold price hits two-month high as momentum builds for Fed rate cut
Gold prices rose by nearly 1.5% to a two-month high on Friday as disappointing US factory data and a drop in consumer sentiment reinforced bets on the possibility of interest rate cuts later in the year. Spot gold gained by more than 1.4% to $2,075.03 per ounce by 11:30 a.m. ET, about $60 off the record […]
Indonesia says its nickel supply will keep global prices low
Indonesia, the world’s largest nickel exporter, has a sobering message for struggling producers of the battery metal elsewhere: don’t expect any meaningful revival in prices. Septian Hario Seto, the government official who has overseen Indonesia’s nickel processing boom, says prices are unlikely to rise much above $18,000 a ton on the London Metal Exchange. The […]
Norway Orders World’s First Battery-Power Autonomous Ferries
Norway looks to be at the forefront in the development of new maritime technologies both to advance decarbonization and to increase the operating safety and efficiency of vessels. Designs have been completed and an order was placed for four fully battery-powered RoRo ferries that will also be capable of fully autonomous operations as part of […]
Tata confirms site for £4bn battery factory which will employ 4,000
Indian conglomerate Tata has confirmed Bridgwater in Somerset as the site of its new £4 billion battery factory which will bring about 4,000 jobs to the region. Tata’s battery business Agratas said that it had bought land at the Gravity Smart Campus off the M5 just outside the town. Tata confirmed in July last year […]