“The problem is the most hazardous carbon emitting [part of manganese alloy production] is the use of coal or coke [reductants],” Kumar said.

But there are several things that can be done to make production greener, he added, with AML planning to secure land in Malaysia to grow new forests to create biocarbon reductants in the form of charcoal and wood chips.

Kumar added that producer AML plans to source 40% of its carbon reductant needs from those new forests for its Pertama ferro-alloys plant in Sarawak, Malaysia to drastically reduce carbon emissions.

Fowkes pointed out that many of the green measures producers can take up have trade-offs, with biocarbon reductants said to be less efficient and therefore more expensive. As well as there being issues with supply.

“There would be no tree left in the world if everyone is using charcoal,” Fowkes said.

Access to green energy was also a large factor in reducing emissions, with producers operating in countries such as Malaysia, Norway, Iceland and Brazil having the advantage of access to hydroelectric power.

Project Blue founder Beddar said “a lot can be done to improve emissions as a whole” but described complete eradication as “impossible”. Project Blue provides consultancy on critical materials for energy transition.

Other methods discussed to achieve greener production included switching diesel-run equipment to electric-operated machinery, waste heat recovery processes and carbon capture.

However, panelists stressed the need for government subsidies to support greener production across the manganese chain.

Emerging EV end market

The experts also discussed expected demand and supply for manganese sulfate for use in electric vehicle (EV) batteries. While manganese sulfate supply is expected to grow significantly in the next two decades, the manganese industry will still be heavily dominated by alloy production for use in steelmaking, Fastmarkets heard.

Panelists also considered the role of India in the supply chain, with all in agreement that India’s steel market will grow and thus demand for manganese alloys and ore, “but not to extent China has grown”.

The post Challenges, opportunities for greener manganese alloy production: IFA 2023 appeared first on Fastmarkets.

Full details of the prices covered by this consultation can be found here.

No feedback was received during the consultation period and therefore no changes will be made to the methodologies at this stage, with the exception of the manganese ore and cobalt prices.

Fastmarkets has started an informal consultation on manganese ore related to individual grades in response to market feedback. A formal consultation will be launched in the near future and a pricing notice published.

Fastmarkets has received feedback regarding its specifications for cobalt, and will look to start informal discussions on a potential consultation and publish a notice with more detail about this at a later date, should it be deemed necessary. In the meantime, Fastmarkets welcomes any initial feedback on cobalt brands on an ongoing basis.

Fastmarkets invites feedback on a continuing basis throughout the year on all markets.

Fastmarkets has in the past month separately launched a consultation inviting feedback on a potential discontinuation of its lithium contract price assessments to reflect the evolving lithium marketplace, where long-term contract negotiations are increasingly linked to spot price indexation. View the open consultation, here. 

To provide comment or feedback on the content of the IOSCO-audited non-ferrous methodologies, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to these prices or indices, please email pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Fleur Ritzema/Juliet Walsh, re: IOSCO non-ferrous methodologies.” Please indicate if comments are confidential. Fastmarkets will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.

You can find the current methodology for the IOSCO-audited non-ferrous materials here https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology.

To see all Fastmarkets pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology.

The post Final decision of open consultation on IOSCO-audited non-ferrous price assessments, indices appeared first on Fastmarkets.

Further developments in prevailing battery chemistries and increasing use in non-NMC chemistries – as well as geopolitical shifts as western countries attempt to wean themselves off Chinese raw materials – will likely lead to a shift in supply-demand dynamics for the metal.

Due to these factors, Fastmarkets has forecast a deficit for the metal by 2030, with a supply forecast at 300,300 tonnes – manganese contained – versus demand at 374,814 tonnes. This covers demand for both electric vehicle (EV) use and energy storage systems.

In this final part of Fastmarkets’ three in-depth features on manganese sulfate, we delve into the sector’s looming developments.

The first feature looked at expected market volatility, while the second covered growing focus on the metal.

New uses

Changes in attitudes toward battery chemistries have resulted in uncertainty for many of the BRM markets, with mixed forecasts of both growth and declines in demand.

Battery grade manganese sulfate is used for a number of seemingly promising developments in BRM chemistries outside its prevailing use in NMC batteries.

One such potential future development could be the commercial establishment of high lithium, manganese (HLM) cathode active materials (CAM) and the use of manganese in lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) batteries.

Critical materials technology company Umicore is on the cutting edge of the process to commercialize HLM. The producer started developing manganese-rich technologies more than ten years ago.

A spokesperson told Fastmarkets that the company sees HLM as “an excellent alternative” to other existing design-to-cost technologies such as LFP, because the battery technology  is “cost-competitive, has a higher energy density and offers better recycling capabilities.”

The company’s investment in HLM complements Umicore’s portfolio of NMC battery materials because market participants are prompted by BRM prices and supply chain concerns to explore other chemistries.

Compared with other metals in the NCM suite of chemistries, manganese sulfate stands out as a more affordable ingredient.

On the London Metal Exchange, the nickel cash official price was most recently at $21,392.50 per tonne on Thursday July 27.

Fastmarkets’ price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam was $16.50-18.00 per lb ($36,376-39,683 per tonne) on Friday, unchanged from the previous session but down from its 2022 high of $39.75-40.50 per lb on May 3.

Fastmarkets’ price assessment for manganese sulfate 32% Mn min, battery grade, exw mainland China was 5,000-5,650 yuan ($699-789) per tonne on July 27.

In recent years, developments in existing battery chemistry have moved toward relatively reduced consumption of battery grade manganese sulfate, Fastmarkets heard.

“The dominating cathode formulation outside China is currently NCM material, with a trend of increasing the nickel content – to boost battery performance – and reducing the cobalt and manganese content,” Madelein Todd, chief marketing officer for Manganese Metal Company (MMC), said to Fastmarkets.

MMC describes itself as the only producer of high-grade manganese metal outside of China. It operates in South Africa, where it produces 28,000 tonnes per year of manganese metal, which is high in purity and selenium-free. Its manganese metal is 99.9% Mn (Fastmarkets prices 99.7% material). A significant portion of its manganese metal is sold to NCM producers.

Todd expects cost pressure to potentially increase demand for alternative chemistries, such as high-manganese cathodes, including through lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistries outside China, where it is currently prevailing.

“Given pressure from cost, LFP will inevitably also feature out of China over the next few years,” Todd said.

With the addition of manganese, lithium iron manganese phosphate can be produced with a higher energy density, helping mitigate the chemistry’s relatively low energy density – one of its key shortfalls compared to NMC batteries.

“Reducing battery cost pressures will be most accelerated when high-manganese cathode materials reach commercialization – at present they have just left the laboratory stage of development, but hold very good promise,“ Todd said.

Umicore told Fastmarkets that the growth of LFP (and LMFP) outside of China will likely be possible in the medium term, and that in the meantime HLM could provide an appealing alternative.

“LFP requires a different manufacturing production process and supply chain… building capacity outside of China would come with serious cost considerations and take some time, likely beyond 2026-2027,” the company’s spokesperson said.

Progress is being made, according to Fastmarkets research.

“We are seeing significant attention and investment in LMFP technologies with a view to improve the chemistry that holds the greatest market share in the Chinese market,” Fastmarkets analyst Rob Searle said.

“This could lead to higher adoption of the nickel- and cobalt-free chemistry in western markets where longer-range, higher-performance vehicles remain the preference,” he added.

Speaking to Fastmarkets earlier this year, James Fraser, vice president commercial, Euro Manganese, also identified that increased LMFP demand would impact the manganese sulfate market.

“I believe over the next couple of years, we will see more and more announcements of manganese rich chemistries from battery makers for NMC batteries [and] also we expect to see LMFP playing a bigger part,” Fraser said. “It will take a little while for this to translate into concrete demand, but it will come.”

Localization

Commercial production of manganese sulfate is currently overwhelmingly concentrated in China, posing a potential restraint for the material’s use, despite its relative abundance.

The trend to establish a non-Chinese supply of the material will likely be boosted by recent legislation, including the European Union’s battery directive – which was adopted in June. The directive targets carbon footprint reporting, with EV batteries, light means of transport batteries and rechargeable industrial batteries (with a capacity of over 2kWh) required to carry a label that reflects their carbon footprint.

“We will be able to offer high purity sulfate material, with traceability and the highest compliance standards, in 2.5 to 3 years – by then cathode precursor production will have evolved more in EU and North America, which are the target markets for our non-Chinese offering of manganese sulfate,” said Todd.

Chinese manganese producers, Fastmarkets has found, are not as established as non-Chinese producers when it comes to disclosing carbon emissions, providing the latter with opportunities to establish comparably strong reporting standards.

Additionally, manganese sulfate may benefit from better recycling and a more circular supply chain, as advocated for by legislation in the West.

Umicore believes that its HLM CAM is more appealing for recycling than LFPs.

“In LFP, recycling iron and phosphate is not economically valuable,” the company’s spokesperson said.

Fastmarkets believes that increasing global demand for the BRM – and the current concentration of the material’s production in China – will support non-Chinese production in the future.

“From 2025, we expect tightening supply and scouring regulations to lead to projects starting up in Europe, the US and Australia,” Searle said.

This article is part three of three in our spotlight on sulfate series, focused on manganese sulfate. Read the other articles here.

The post Spotlight on sulfate: Battery chemistry developments and geographical onshoring to shape manganese sulfate sector appeared first on Fastmarkets.

This article will focus on the current demand scenario, as well as the priorities of the industry on developing beyond the current reliance on China.

At the time of publication on Wednesday July 26, Fastmarkets understands that there is just one manganese sulfate producer in Europe – although European production is expected to develop in the future. The vast majority of global production is currently concentrated in China.

Manganese in batteries

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries represent, by far, the largest growth opportunity for sales of manganese sulfate, with one market source telling Fastmarkets that “all high-purity manganese sulfate goes to the battery industry.”

The traditional industrial application for the lower grade, industrial quality manganese sulfate has been the agricultural sector, but this is becoming less and less important in terms of consumption.

Manganese plays a critical role in the cathode of a Li-ion battery, and is represented by the ‘M’ in NMC, which stands for nickel–manganese–cobalt.

NMC cathodes are a preferred chemistry for Li-ion batteries, particularly in Western markets, due to their advantages in terms of energy density and range.

Manganese plays a crucial role in the battery, offering stability during charge cycles and ensuring that the battery lasts longer, while metals such as nickel provide energy density.

The growth in adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) globally has driven the demand for manganese sulfate. Fastmarkets forecasts a significant increase in such demand in future, particularly with new battery technologies being developed, further increasing manganese demand.

As the chart above shows, expected demand is likely to almost triple between 2023 and the end of the decade, although these figures do not take into account production losses and stock build-ups.

Demand for manganese sulfate is likely to grow significantly, but the current market pricing dynamics typically put it lower on the list of procurement priorities.

“Manganese makes up 5-11% of the cell weight of current NMC battery chemistries, but around 1-2% of the cell cost,” Fastmarkets battery raw materials analyst Robert Searle said. “For now, it remains much lower-cost compared with other cathode active materials. And its price has yet to show volatile spikes in the way that [the prices of] cobalt and nickel have in recent years.”

Another factor, in addition to its relatively low cost, is that the consumption of manganese in the battery sector is dwarfed by its use in the steel sector.

Price divergence

At present, the production of manganese sulfate and related batteries is heavily concentrated in China. But with the world attempting to regionalize supply chains, there is an increasing focus on price divergence in regions such as Europe.

The region relies for the moment almost entirely on imports of material from China. These historically have been subject to a 5% import duty, although this has been suspended and is now under review.

In the US, however, import duties were said to be significantly higher.

As was noted in the first part of this series, there are many concerns about the presence of elements such as selenium in Chinese-produced manganese sulfate. And there are broader concerns about the potential for more impurities.

“First-tier original equipment manufacturers [OEMs] in the US and Europe want to move away from Chinese sources of material when it comes to cathode active material [CAM],” Madelein Todd, the chief marketing officer of Manganese Metal Co (MMC), said when speaking to Fastmarkets earlier this year.

This view was shared by others in the industry, who expected the desire to pivot away from China-origin material to result in a significant price gap.

“Non-Chinese material, with excellent environmental-social governance [ESG] credentials, transparency of production, security of supply and top quality, is becoming more and more important to customers,” Euro Manganese commercial vice president James Fraser told Fastmarkets earlier this year. “This supply will become available, with a price premium.”

But it was not yet clear what level of premium non-Chinese material could command in an open and competitive market.

Fastmarkets most recently assessed the price of manganese sulfate, 32% Mn min, battery grade, exw mainland China, at 4,800-5,650 yuan ($667-786) per tonne on July 20.

Alongside the potential origin premiums, questions have been raised about whether there could be premiums on product derived from manganese metal, or manganese ore. Some market participants believed that sulfate produced from manganese metal could command a premium, although production of sulfate via this route is relatively small.

At present, the market is dominated by ore-derived sulfate, with market sources estimating that around 90% of total sulfate production comes from manganese ore.

But the potential price gaps between materials derived via the different production methods are not unique to manganese sulfate, with nickel sulfate showing similar price divergence depending on the method of production.

This article is part three of three in our spotlight on sulfate series, focused on manganese sulfate. Read the other articles here.

The post Spotlight on sulfate: More focus on manganese sulfate pricing on battery sector growth appeared first on Fastmarkets.

In this series, which will comprise of three parts, Fastmarkets will explore the current market dynamics in manganese sulfate markets, as well as future applications and battery chemistries.

Like many battery raw materials, manganese metal (which Fastmarkets prices as electrolytic manganese flake) consumption has historically been dominated by the alloy steel sector rather than lithium-ion batteries. Part of the reason that battery grade manganese does not often dominate discussions in the battery raw materials market is due to its apparent abundance of supply, though it is highly concentrated in China.

Part of the reason that manganese does not often dominate discussions in battery raw materials is due to its apparent abundance of supply, though it is highly concentrated in China.

Other regions are expected to see production growth, but China’s dominant position is likely to remain unchanged by the end of the decade.

There is a growing expectation though, though due to complexities around production and significant growth in demand that regional price volatility could quickly emerge.

Furthermore, although manganese is largely abundant, not all of the product currently mined or refined is suitable for battery grade material.

“[The manganese ore] needs to be soluble, preferably a carbonate ore,” Euro Manganese commercial vice president James Fraser said when speaking to Fastmarkets earlier this year, “or else it needs to be roasted to make it soluble (as is the case for most oxide ores).”

“Most ore is in oxide form; carbonate ores are much rarer,” Fraser added.

Tight availability of appropriate ore is not the only challenge facing the manganese sulfate industry though, with participants highlighting the challenge around refining/processing bottlenecks outside of China.

“Outside of China, very few countries produce manganese sulfate, and currently only one country has battery grade manganese sulfate production,” Manganese Metal Company (MMC) chief marketing office Madelein Todd said.

This is evidenced by data from the International Energy Association in its recent report on critical raw materials, which states that 97% of battery grade manganese sulfate is produced in China.

Production routes

Considering these potential production bottlenecks, participants highlighted the multiple methods of production available to producers.

Manganese ore and manganese metal can all be used as a feedstock in the production of manganese metal. However, each requires different approaches.

From ore, the manganese is leached, purified and then crystallized in high purity crystals which can then be used in the process of manufacturing manganese sulfate.

“Alternatively, the ore is put through electrowinning by which electrolysis is used to extract the metal from a purified leach solution and shipped to a pre-cursor maker, which would dissolve it in sulfuric acid,” Todd said.

Instead of using manganese ore though, sulfate producers can use manganese metal. Sulfate producers can take manganese metal and dissolve this in sulfuric acid to form manganese sulfate which can be crystalised.

This route involves less processing and can also result in higher purity of material, according to sources.

However, both methods are tried and proven as effective in producing manganese sulfate, and as the market develop, Todd believes the choice of feedstock will not be important among consumers focused on the end result.

“The feedstock will not be a concern. The quality will be the same from both sources,” Todd said. “By the time the manganese has been crystalized it does not matter.”

The process of making metal as an intermediate product can help purification.

“However, proponents of the first method like the elimination of the electrowinning stage to reduce power costs,” Fraser said. “However, this often comes at the expense of purity and any savings on power costs can quickly be outweighed by additional costs of the reagents needed to achieve the desired purity levels.”

Producing metal as an intermediate product provides the opportunity for further versatility for end use products as battery chemistries and consumer requirements evolve, according to Fraser.

This is particularly valuable given evolving approaches to battery chemistries.

“While there is an assumption at present that the desired form of manganese is sulphate, there are others who are looking at different forms of manganese – such as metal, oxide, carbonate or even nitrate. Working from metal gives us the option to adapt our process to deliver these products,“ he said. 

Selenium concern

Although manganese metal can be used in the production of sulfate, there are significant concerns around the potential risks of selenium and its impacts on sulfate.

Selenium is often used in the production of manganese metal in order to reduce power consumption and operating costs, though this method is highly concentrated in China, where the majority of global manganese metal is currently produced.

Manganese sulfate products containing selenium are often not desired within Western markets, sources said.

“Selenium is very toxic and gives off a garlic distinctive aroma in the lab during dissolution,” Todd said, adding “If you start with 99.7% chemistry manganese flake then you need to remove the selenium.”

However, it is difficult process to remove the selenium, but it carries a risk if it is not removed.

“If it ended up in manganese sulphate destined for EV batteries, even very small quantities could cause significant safety-related and other technical problems, such as short-circuits,” Fraser said.

Euro Manganese is looking to produce selenium-free metal at its Chvaletice project in Czechia.

There are reports that some consumers of manganese sulfate are happy to take material containing selenium for small-scale batteries, but this is not widespread.

Any manganese products containing selenium require an additional processing stage to remove the selenium, which can then be stored in an approved hazardous waste facility, adding to costs.

Historically, manganese flake has been the dominant method of production of manganese sulfate, but issues around selenium have seen participants switch to the use of metal or ore as a feedstock.

“Flake was dominant – it was dissolved and crystallized, but it was not always purified properly. But now ore is currently the dominant route to sulfate production as it is less expensive,” Todd said.

Manganese flake prices are largely unimpacted by such developments, given that steel consumption continues to make up the vast majority of overall demand for the material.

Instead, volatility in manganese metal prices have typically been related to supply factors.

In the second half of 2021, manganese flake prices increased markedly, to reach an all-time high.

Fastmarkets’ price assessment for manganese 99.7% electrolytic manganese flake, fob China reached $7,000-7,150 per tonne on October 29, 2021. The price was up by 187.3% from $2,450-2,520 per tonne on May 7, 2021.

This price increase was credited to supply concerns and production cuts among major production hubs to help meet environmental targets.

On the other hand, manganese sulfate prices have historically been heavily impacted by fluctuations in manganese flake prices.

In 2022, as manganese flake prices softened, manganese sulfate prices moved largely in parallel.

On March 17, 2022, in the first pricing session of Fastmarkets’ manganese sulfate 32% Mn min, battery grade, exw mainland China price assessment, prices were assessed at 9,000-10,000 yuan per kg. One year later, on March 16, 2022, this price had fallen to 5,800-6,300 yuan per kg, marking a decline of 36.32%.

Between March 18, 2022 and March 17, 2023, the price for manganese 99.7% electrolytic manganese flake, fob China fell from $3,500-4,000 per tonne to $2,150-2,200 per tonne – a 42% decline.

This article is part three of three in our spotlight on sulfate series, focused on manganese sulfate. Read the other articles here.

The post Spotlight on sulfate: Volatility expected in manganese sulfate amid supply and processing capacity bottlenecks appeared first on Fastmarkets.

Chipmakers in the US still have a little bit of time to import gallium and germanium from China before the restrictions take effect, Luisa Moreno, president and director at Defense Metals and strategic minerals specialist, told Fastmarkets in an interview on Wednesday July 12.

According to Moreno, chipmakers – which typically stockpile around three to six months’ worth of strategic materials – could potentially build up to nine months’ worth of inventory. After that, however, they will have to find new ways of obtaining gallium and germanium, she said.

Starting August 1, Chinese exporters of those materials will need to apply for licenses and disclose more information about customers.

According to Moreno, gallium is the more critical mineral to stockpile because China currently produces more than 90% of global supply, while substantial primary supply of germanium is available outside of China from Canadian zinc producer Teck Resources.

Notably, gallium prices have already increased significantly by about 30% since the new controls were announced on July 3, and they will continue to move up, Moreno said.

Fastmarkets assessed the price for gallium 99.99% Ga min, in-whs Rotterdam at $302-360 per kg on July 12, up by 28.54% from $250-265 per kg on June 30.

Gallium could be substituted with silicon, but the issue is performance, Moreno said. In low-end chip applications – in cars, for example – silicon is an acceptable substitute; for chips used in military applications and satellites, however, it is not.

Sourcing could be a challenge

Gallium is obtained mainly from the mining and mineral processing of bauxite ore for aluminium, according to a report by the US Geological Survey (USGS). It also can be obtained by processing sphalerite ore for zinc and recycled from scrap, the report said.

While domestic aluminium processors could potentially produce gallium by extracting it from bauxite residue or “red mud,” they would have to reconfigure their supply chains to do so, and this would not likely be cost-effective given the value of the material, according to Moreno.

“There’s nothing the US can do immediately,” she said. “We have to look at increasing production… That will take five years, perhaps. It’s not going to happen overnight, but an economic process has to be developed.”

Negotiations between the US and China are likely to occur within the next couple of months, however, and that could affect the outlook for importers, she said.

The other two superpowers of chipmaking are the Netherlands and Japan, Moreno said. After the US restricted exports of advanced chips to China last October, both agreed in January to follow suit, she said. Last month, the Netherlands executed this strategy by restricting the sales of Dutch manufacturer ASML’s machinery to China.

“Japan is probably next, and South Korea, perhaps,” she said.

The US deal with Japan and the Netherlands included assurances that Japan and the Netherlands will not allow their semiconductor manufacturing equipment companies to sell to China the categories of equipment that the US is now prohibiting, and that the Dutch and Japanese governments would prohibit the sale of lithography equipment, according to a March report by the Center for Strategic & International Studies. The arrangement advances the formation of a new “plurilateral export controls regime on semiconductors,” it said.

Still, both South Korea and Germany – and ideally the entire European Union – need to join the agreement to prevent the fracturing of the value chain, according to the report.

A separate report released this week by the International Energy Agency highlighted gallium and germanium in particular as examples of niche, critical minerals that may disrupt supply chains “due to a higher reliance on a small group of suppliers.” The report also listed magnesium, high-purity manganese, high-purity phosphorus and silicon in this category.

Gallium and gallium products are important to the aerospace and telecommunications industries; they are used in the production of highly specialized integrated circuits, semiconductors and transistors necessary for high-performance computers and smartphones, according to the USGS report.

Defense Metals Corp owns the Wicheeda Project in British Columbia, which has an indicated mineral resource of 5 million tonnes averaging 2.95% total rare-earth oxide, and an inferred mineral resource of 29.5 million tonnes average 1.83% total rare-earth oxide, according to its website.

Moreno is a physics engineer with a PhD in materials science and mechanics; she serves as the chief executive officer of Graphano Energy Ltd, founder and managing editor of Tahuiti Global Inc, and as a consultant on mineral assets and technologies for companies and government institutions.

The post China restrictions on gallium and germanium ‘harmful’ to US chipmakers appeared first on Fastmarkets.

Bismuth 99.99% Bi min, in-whs Rotterdam BI-0001 – MB-BI-0001
Cadmium 99.95% min, cif global ports – MB-CD-0001
Cadmium 99.99% min, cif global ports – MB-CD-0002
Gallium 99.99% Ga min, in-whs Rotterdam – MB-GA-0001
Germanium 99.99% Ge, in-whs Rotterdam – MB-GER-0003
Germanium dioxide, in-whs China – MB-GER-0001
Indium 99.99%, in-whs Rotterdam – MB-IN-0002
Selenium 99.5% Se min, in-whs Rotterdam – MB-SE-0002

For tellurium 99.9-99.99% Te min, in-whs Rotterdam – MB-TE-0001, the methodology specifies its timing as “prompt.”

Fastmarkets proposes clarifying the prompt release window for these prices as 10 calendar days, to align with the accepted industry standard as defined by the Minor Metals Trade Association (MMTA).

This change would bring Fastmarkets in line with the MMTA’s Consolidated Regulations, Terms And Conditions Of Trade, where it defines “prompt” as “within 10 calendar days from the date of concluding the contract: time being decided by the local time at the location of the goods. The period is not extended if the 10th day falls on a weekend, or a public holiday in the location of either the goods or the seller.”

The consultation period for this proposed clarification starts on Monday June 26 and will end on Friday August 18. The amendment will then take effect, subject to market feedback, on Monday September 4.

To provide feedback on these prices or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to these prices, please contact Sayaka Kurata and Solomon Cefai by email at pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Sayaka Kurata & Solomon Cefai, re: minor metals.”

To see all of Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/about-us/methodology.

The post Proposal to clarify delivery timing for minor metals specifications appeared first on Fastmarkets.

The legislation also sets minimum levels of materials recovered from waste batteries, with the target for lithium set at 50% by 2027, rising to 80% in 2031. Targets for cobalt, copper, lead and nickel have all been set at 90% by 2027, rising to 95% by 2031.

Like much of the battery industry, China currently leads metal recovery rates for recycling, with the country said to be five years ahead of regions like Europe and North America.

Research collated by Fastmarkets found that China’s recovery target in 2019 for lithium (85%), cobalt (98%) and nickel (98%) were all above those targeted by the EU for 2031.

The impetus to increase battery raw material (BRM) recycling and recovery rates has accelerated in recent years, particularly in light of increasing regulatory pressure, with Western economies aiming to onshore more of the supply chain and foster a more circular economy.

Participants, however, are concerned about how far behind Europe is lagging in both feedstock and infrastructure.

To address this, there have been a series of early-stage projects that seek to facilitate better BRM recovery in the region.

In May, UK-based Watercycle Technologies and precious metal recovery specialist RSBruce Metals & Machinery announced they had extracted commercial-grade lithium and almost 100% pure graphite from spent electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

A new lithium chemical refinery in Germany will use recycled feedstock for half of its capacity by 2030, according to the owner Livista Energy Europe.

More attention is being paid to the value of the these recycled raw materials, with Fastmarkets launching black mass payable assessments in May.

Fastmarkets assessed the black mass, NCM/NCA, payable indicator, cobalt, cif South Korea, % payable Fastmarkets’ standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) at 67-72% on June 14, narrowing upward from the 65-72% on June 7.

Fastmarkets assessed the black mass, NCM/NCA, payable indicator, nickel, cif South Korea, % London Metal Exchange cash official price at 67-72% on Wednesday, narrowing upward from 65-72% the week before

Lithium is a particular focus in the new circular economy legislation, according to European Parliament rapporteur Achille Variati.

“Our overall aim is to build a stronger EU recycling industry, particularly for lithium, and a competitive industrial sector as a whole, which is crucial in the coming decades for our continent’s energy transition and strategic autonomy,” he said.

The European Union’s updated legislation mandates that waste from batteries should be collected free of charge for all end users, regardless of their nature, chemical composition, condition, brand or origin.

It also targets carbon footprint reporting, with EV batteries, light means of transport batteries and rechargeable industrial batteries (with a capacity of over 2kWh) required to carry a label that reflects their carbon footprint.

Fastmarkets has reported that this may require significant progress in some markets, including high-purity manganese metal –used for the production of nickel-manganese-cobalt lithium-ion batteries – for which carbon emissions reporting standards appear to be mostly lacking.

Diligence obligations will also be placed on battery manufacturers, meaning they will have to comply with requirements addressing social and environmental risks around the sourcing, processing and trading of raw materials and secondary raw materials.

Additionally, minimum levels of recovered cobalt (16%), lead (85%), lithium (6%) and nickel (6%) from manufacturing and consumer waste must be reused in new batteries.

Keep up to date with global market insights and predictions for 2023 and beyond with our NewGen forecasts.

The post European Parliament adopts updated battery directive targeting circular economy appeared first on Fastmarkets.

Manganese flake, a form of EMM, has predominantly been used as an alloy in the production of stainless steel and aluminium.

This past week, Fastmarkets launched a new suite of green steel prices to cover the blossoming market for low-carbon or sustainable steel, aiming to bring transparency to the industry’s drive toward decarbonization.

Manganese is also used extensively to produce high-purity, battery-grade manganese sulfate, used in many lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), including nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) batteries.

What industry leaders are already doing

Unlike the steel and aluminium sectors, where significant progress has been made in the mainstream commercial market to push for reduced-carbon production, there appears to have been less of an impetus for low-carbon manganese flake – though some newer producers have made ESG and carbon emissions standards central to their offerings.

Morne Ruiters is marketing executive of South Africa-based Manganese Metal Company (MMC), which produces high-grade, selenium-free manganese.

In an interview with Fastmarkets, he delved into his company’s particular focus on ESG standards and the overall outlook for “green” manganese metal.

Ruiters said he believes the comparatively slow progress toward low-carbon EMM production could be credited to the relatively small global market, compared with markets like steel, as well as the lower cost of manganese when compared with other alloying materials like nickel and chrome.

This was corroborated by a major manganese flake consumer.

“We are not yet ready to report [the carbon emissions of our consumed manganese flake], and it is one of the smallest products on our team, so we have other priorities at the moment,” the consumer said.

But the consumer acknowledged that attention would eventually turn to the material. “Of course, it’ll have to happen,” they said.

Ruiters added that a further obstacle toward the creation of “green” manganese is Chinese producers’ dominance of EMM supply and demand dynamics — China produces over 90% of global EMM and more than 60% of manganese.

The low-priority attitude toward EMM also exists for battery end-users, Ruiters said.

“Most of your steelmakers and other manganese consumers would target nickel and chrome first, and raw materials like manganese will probably be looked at later, which is the same in the battery industry,” he said. “There is a lot of focus on lithium, nickel and cobalt because they are so expensive, and you know commodity like manganese always gets overlooked initially.”

This phenomenon is bound to change, he argued, since “the spirit of ESG” in green steel and aluminium is to procure sustainable products regardless of the relative price of the commodity.

However, passing higher ESG costs through to the end customers remains a huge challenge, Ruiters said.

Responsible, sustainable purchasing comes at a price, he said, while observing that most market segments are not ready to pay more for ESG-conscious producers’ higher-priced products. Quantifying such ESG costs in product pricing is also very difficult, since the scope of ESG is very broad and “ESG compliance” depends on the scope suppliers set for themselves.

In comments to Fastmarkets, Matt James, president and chief executive officer of Euro Manganese, a battery materials company aiming to become a leading producer of high-purity manganese for the electric vehicle industry, discussed his company’s focus on ESG-friendly production.

Euro Manganese is advancing the development of its Chvaletice Manganese Project in the Czech Republic and is exploring an early-stage opportunity to produce battery-grade manganese products in Bécancour, Quebec, James said.

The company has completed a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for its Chvaletice project – not yet in operation – to understand the environmental impact, including carbon footprint, from the production of two high-purity manganese products: High Purity Manganese Sulphate Monohydrate (HPMSM) and High Purity Electrolytic Manganese Metal (HPEMM).

The LCA indicated that by using 100% renewable energy in place of standard Czech grid power, the company can reduce its carbon emissions by over 50%, James said.

“We have [a memorandum of understanding] in place with [European renewable power generator] Statkraft to provide 100% green power for the project and intend to recycle a portion our CO2 and hydrogen process emissions,” he said.

“Opportunities exist to further reduce our carbon footprint by sourcing reagents from manufacturers with lower environmental impact than those assumed in the LCA [and] we are committed to identifying and selecting suppliers with commitments to decarbonization,” James said.

The company has noticed an increased focus from its potential customers — battery makers and automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) — on procuring low-carbon, responsibly-produced raw materials.

“That’s likely being driven by a few factors. One: their own commitments to net zero, and two: regulation,” James said.

Ruiters believes that companies like MMC, with a pre-existing focus on sustainable practices, are bound to reap rewards in the future when high purity manganese products procurement shifts toward considering carbon emission reporting, transparency and wider sustainability practices.

Other Western-based companies, such as mining giant Eramet Group, are also looking toward reducing carbon emissions in their production.

The group mines manganese ore and is a world-leading producer of refined manganese alloys.

“Eramet Group achieved a world first by producing the first grams of totally carbon-free manganese metal,” a spokesperson told Fastmarkets, adding, “this was a great victory for our innovation teams.”

The spokesperson said the group intends to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and “must aim to develop carbon-neutral production channels for manganese and be very proactive in [its] carbon-reduction programs.”

More expensive, more environmentally friendly production

Low-carbon, more environmentally friendly production of manganese flake inherently comes with an accompanied premium price tag, Fastmarkets understands.

Ruiters explained that there is a premium on MMC material versus its China-origin alternative.

In the case of MMC, customers are willing to pay this price, Ruiters said, in significant part due to the absence of selenium – which is typically used as an additive for Chinese manganese flake production. Selenium reduces the cost of production significantly but is a very toxic element, both for employee health and the environment.

“Most of our customers want selenium-free material, some of them have technical reasons, others are making a primarily sustainable decision,” he said. “So, a major section of our customers wants to use our non-selenium product for good ESG credentials.”

The premium on MMC material is applied to production costs, as opposed to margin, Ruiters clarified, because of the higher cost of production associated with the selenium-free process and sustainable production in general.

Euro Manganese also reported that premiums are beginning to be ascribed to lower-carbon raw materials.

“For example, the pricing mechanism outlined in our offtake term sheet with French battery market Verkor is linked to the carbon footprint of our products,” James said.

“If we lower our carbon emissions from what is outlined in our LCA, we receive a price premium [and] conversely, if we don’t meet our emissions targets, we give a price discount,” he said.

The company also specifies it does not use selenium in its process and intends to further reduce its environmental impact by using wastewater from a neighboring power plant.

China-concentrated production

The vast majority of manganese flake production is currently concentrated in China, and market participants speaking to Fastmarkets reported difficulty in acquiring information related to carbon emissions from manganese flake producers in the country.

One trader reported difficulty in finding specific information and was uncertain as to whether it was because the information was not available or because the producers were unwilling to provide it.

“It could be either way – they could not have the figure, or they could be worried the figure’s release would have some negative impact on their [commercial appeal],” the trader said.

Another trader reported that most producers had been unwilling to provide specific data on carbon emissions, but that one, with which their trading house had a long relationship, was able to oblige.

The second trader acknowledged that there was a premium on more environmentally friendly material but observed that some countries – in Northern and Central Europe especially – are particularly keen to only acquire material from trusted countries.

“They’re very strict about who they buy from and want to use producers in countries that are solid [in terms of ESG credentials],” they said.

There are signs that the Chinese production sector is undergoing a change in perspective regarding ESG standards, although it is uncertain how concrete this shift is.

Qingdao Manganese Investment Cooperative Enterprise, a partnership between leading Chinese manganese flake producers, was established in March 2021 with the self-professed goal of ensuring the green, healthy and stable development of the “entire manganese industry.”

Despite a notable growth in alternative energy sources in China, most energy generation in the country currently comes from high carbon-emitting coal, according to International Energy Agency (IEA) statistics.

Fastmarkets’ assessed price for manganese 99.7% electrolytic manganese flake, in-whs Rotterdam was $2,050-2,195 per tonne on Friday June 9, whereas the price for manganese 99.7% electrolytic manganese flake, fob China was assessed at $2,050-2,100 per tonne on the same day.

Both prices have been on a general downward trend in recent weeks, while weak demand has undercut the impact of production cuts in China.

Advances needed in reporting standards

Along with the need for clarity on what, exactly, constitutes “ESG-friendly” manganese flake, there is a need for more unified reporting and certification standards for mining and metal ESG, with producers looking to disparate certification and reporting companies to assist.

This was corroborated by Trevor Jones, CEO of Lynx Global Intelligence, which provides ESG data-gathering software for the mining and mining finance industry.

While he declined to disclose individual clients, he said the company does interact with the manganese sector.

“A challenge to Western markets will include increasing pressure to source sustainable and ESG-verifiable jurisdictions for manganese,” Jones said, adding that this challenge is already reflected in consumer marketing and information.

Indeed, both MMC and Eramet participate in a variety of initiatives intended to verify their ESG credentials.

Both are certified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and reported collaborating with other organizations.

In the case of MMC, a current state assessment was recently performed by leading global auditing and consultancy firm PwC, which Ruiters said lends weight to his company’s ESG transparency claim.

“If you have a credible external body, who came to your site and verified your governance standards and environmental impact, it helps a lot,” he explained.

Eramet’s spokesperson reported that the group answers the Carbon Disclosure Project climate change questionnaire, which assesses the progress made by companies in terms of transparency and environmental leadership.

“In 2022, Eramet joined the leading companies in its “metal smelting, refining and forming” business sector by receiving an A- rating, compared with a B in 2021 and a D in 2019,” the spokesperson told Fastmarkets.

The perception around what good ESG standards constitutes has shifted in recent years, but uncertainty persists.

Customers are beginning to focus more and more on carbon emissions, Ruiters told Fastmarkets.

“If you speak about ESG now, some customers almost throw out the rest of the metrics from the conversation and just focus on carbon emissions,” he said.

Holly Chant in London contributed to this report.

Keep up to date with global market manganese insights and predictions for 2023 and beyond.

The post Long road ahead for ‘green’ manganese metal appeared first on Fastmarkets.

It states the list of strategic raw materials “should contain raw materials that are of high strategic importance, taking into account their use in strategic technologies underpinning the green and digital transitions or for defence or space applications, that are characterised by a potentially significant gap between global supply.”

The strategic list includes bismuth, boron (metallurgy grade), cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium, lithium (battery grade), magnesium metal, manganese (battery grade), natural graphite (battery grade), nickel (battery grade), platinum group metals, rare earth elements for magnets, silicon metal, titanium metal and tungsten.

Critical raw materials are defined as those which are of high importance for the overall EU economy and also subject to a high level of supply risk.

All of the strategic raw materials are also included on the updated critical list, which also covers antimony, arsenic, bauxite, barite, beryllium, coking coal, feldspar, fluorspar, gallium, germanium, hafnium, helium, heavy rare earth elements, light rare earth elements, niobium, phosphate rock, phosphorus, scandium, strontium, tantalum and vanadium.

There are also some additions to the list of critical raw materials compared with its previous iteration in 2020, including feldspar, helium, nickel (battery grade), and manganese.

Nadia Vinck, director of EHS (environment, health and safety), energy and climate at Euroalliages, said she is pleased to see silicon metal on both lists, and that she considers the critical list in particular to encompass ferro-alloys, as it includes manganese, tungsten, vanadium, niobium and tantalum.

Where materials are further specified as “metal” or “battery grade,” this does not include alloys, but where they are simply listed for example as “tungsten” with no further specification, this can encompass metal, ferro-alloy, ore or chemical compound, Vinck said.

Tungsten, which was already on the critical list as of the 2020 iteration, now also appears on the new strategic list, and is the only designated strategic material that could be considered to encompass ferro-alloys.

“We regret that other important ferro-alloys, which are used in steel and therefore contributing to strategic supply chains, including the twin [green and digital] transition, have not been considered in the list of strategic raw materials,” Vinck added.

Earlier in the year, Vinck told Fastmarkets in an interview that ferro-alloys are key raw materials for the green transition in Europe and should be considered as strategic materials in the context of the Act.

The proposed Act also stipulates that EU capacities should be strengthened “along the strategic raw materials value chain” and that by introducing benchmarks to guide efforts and track progress, the aim should be “to increase capacities for each strategic raw material at each stage of the value chain,” including processing, whose definition includes transformation from ore to alloy.

Content of the Critical Raw Materials Act

Under the Act, the EU will go ahead with setting benchmarks for its capacity for extraction, processing, recycling and consumption “along the strategic raw material supply chain,” with a 2030 deadline.

Within this timeframe, the planned legislation stipulates that EU capacity should able to extract the ores, minerals or concentrates needed to produce at least 10% of the its annual consumption of designated strategic raw materials “to the extent that the Union’s reserves allow for this.”

In terms of processing capacity, it states that EU capacity, “including for all intermediate processing steps,” should able to produce at least 40% of its annual consumption of strategic raw materials. For its recycling capacity, the 2030 benchmark is that it is able to produce at least 15% of annual consumption.

And in a change from the draft version seen by Fastmarkets, which included a 70% benchmark, the Act states that, by 2030, no more than 65% of the EU’s annual consumption of each strategic raw material “at any relevant stage of processing” can come from a single third country.

In the communication accompanying the Act, the EC also calls for the establishing of a CRM (Critical Raw Materials) club, to bring together “consuming and resource-rich countries to promote the secure and sustainable supply of CRMs.”

Elsewhere, the Act also confirms the establishment of a European critical raw materials board, composed of member states and the EC, whose remit will be to “analyse and monitor markets, assess risks and advise on mitigation strategies, assist with strategic projects and co-ordinate strategic stockpiling.”

The Act also aims to simplify permitting procedures for critical raw materials projects in the EU, with a view to supporting projects deemed to be strategic – for example, those that “make a meaningful contribution to the security of the Union’s supply of strategic raw material.”

The next step will be for the proposed regulation to be discussed and agreed by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU before its adoption and entry into law. An exact date has not been specified.

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