Metals |

Nickel Next for Electric Car Boom as Trafigura Turns Bullish

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Glencore Plc and Trafigura Group Pte are often at loggerheads, but one thing they agree on: the nickel market will be transformed by the rise of electric cars. Nickel sulphate, a key ingredient in lithium-ion batteries, will see demand increase 50 percent to 3 million metric tons by 2030, Saad Rahim, chief economist at Trafigura, said in an interview. While other battery metals like cobalt and lithium have more than…

Iron Ore Seen Back in $40s as China Challenges Loom in 2018

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) Iron ore may get a reprieve for the remainder of this year before tougher times return in 2018, according to Schroders Plc, which says the raw material may sink back below $50 a metric ton as the effect of credit-led stimulus in China wears off and demand concerns resurface in the top user. “The underlying supply and demand is pretty negative, so over a decent time period we wouldn’t be surprised to…

Iron Ore Rallies as China Imports Bust 100 Million Ton Level

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Iron ore imports by China surged above 100 million metric tons to a record, smashing the previous high set in 2015, as the country’s concerted push to clean up the environment stoked demand for higher-grade material from overseas while hurting local mine supply. Prices rallied. Purchases of iron ore expanded to 102.8 million tons in September from 93 million tons a year ago, surpassing the previous record of 96.3 million tons…

Best-Performing Metals as Hard to Trade as They Are to Find

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Even if you’d heard of this year’s best-performing metals, betting on them would probably have been a struggle. Ruthenium, iridium and the somewhat better known rhodium — used mostly in specialized products like hard disks, spark plugs and auto catalysts — have trounced almost all major commodities tracked by Bloomberg. Prices are up at least 33 percent this year as demand improved for raw materials that are among the world’s rarest and…