Quarterly rare earths update - April 2024
Ellie Saklatvala, Senior Editor — Nonferrous Metals, provides a bitesize overview of the key price movements that happened in Q1 and how supply and demand fundamentals are shaping up as we move through Q2.
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China's EV fleet nears 50mn in June on rapid adoption
China's EV fleet nears 50mn in June on rapid adoption
Beijing, 16 July (Argus) — China's new energy vehicle (NEV) fleet reached 48.97mn units at the end of June, accounting for 13.2pc of the country's total vehicle fleet, according to data released by the Ministry of Public Security. The share of NEVs in China's vehicle fleet increased by 2.9 percentage points from a year earlier, highlighting the continued rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 68.8pc of the country's total NEV fleet at 33.68mn units. NEVs in China include BEVs, plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs) and fuel-cell vehicles. China registered 5.2mn new NEVs in the first half of 2026, accounting for 49.4pc of all newly registered vehicles. The proportion was 4.5pc higher than a year earlier and indicates that nearly one in every two newly registered vehicles was a NEV. Rapid progress in vehicle intelligence, continued expansion of charging infrastructure and higher oil prices resulting from the Middle East conflict have all accelerated the adoption of EVs in China. The continued growth in China's EV market supports demand for battery materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite, as well as copper used in vehicles and charging infrastructure. China aims to increase the share of NEVs in its national vehicle fleet to 30pc by 2030 under a new carbon emissions reduction plan released by the State Council last week. The country's Hainan province has outlined plans to implement a ban on the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2030, potentially making it the country's first province to phase out new fuel vehicle sales. This has reinforced expectations that gasoline consumption is entering a structural decline . China's total motor vehicle fleet reached 476mn units at the end of June, including 371mn automobiles, according to the ministry. A total of 105 Chinese cities had automobile fleets exceeding 1mn vehicles as of the end of June. Chengdu, Chongqing and Beijing each had more than 6mn automobiles in circulation. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
ADC Aerospace acquiring aluminum, zinc die-caster
ADC Aerospace acquiring aluminum, zinc die-caster
Houston, 15 July (Argus) — Metal components supplier ADC Aerospace is acquiring competitor Hyatt Die Cast & Engineering, expanding its manufacturing capacity of die-cast components from aluminum, zinc and ZA alloys for commercial aerospace and defense applications. ADC plans to transition Hyatt's business into its 115,000ft2 campus in Buena Park, California, after completing the transaction, said private equity firm GreyLion — ADC's owner — on Wednesday. Hyatt operates from two facilities with a combined 150,000ft2 of manufacturing space in Cypress and Garden Grove, California. The company offers machining, powder coating and tooling services to complement its high-pressure die-casting (HPDC) operations, while it also develops tool designs in house. ADC runs 25 HPDC machines and 50 machining cells at its campus, which is near the two Hyatt sites. The company has vacuum die-cast capabilities, while also providing finishing services that include anodizing, plating, heat treatment and powder coating. Besides zinc and aluminum, ADC can produce parts from Inconel, stainless steel and brass. Neither financial details nor other terms of the transaction were disclosed. By Alex Nicoll Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
SDI’s aluminum slab plant to cost $200mn
SDI’s aluminum slab plant to cost $200mn
Houston, 15 July (Argus) — Indiana-based steel and aluminum producer Steel Dynamics (SDI) plans to spend $200mn to build its recycled aluminum slab plant near its rolling mill in Columbus, Mississippi. The facility will be constructed in the Golden Triangle Industrial Park in Lowndes County, local and state officials said on Tuesday. The Mississippi Development Authority will help improve direct road and rail infrastructure for the project, which also will be eligible for tax incentives through the state's Major Economic Impact Authority program. Operations are scheduled to begin in the first half of 2027. The cast house will produce recycled slabs primarily from used beverage cans (UBC) that will support SDI's output of beverage can stock from Columbus. SDI in June decided to relocate the plant to Mississippi from Benson, Arizona, following months of pushback from locals, environmental groups and state officials that delayed its construction. Aluminum scrap dealers are hopeful that the facility will support higher prices for UBCs, as consumers have widened buying spreads to historical lows to mitigate sharp gains in the Midwest transaction price (MWTP) — against which UBCs are discounted — since the beginning of last year. While all-in prices for UBCs are down by 4.9pc from 2 January 2025 to $1.04-1.08/lb as of Argus ' latest assessment on Tuesday, buying spreads have fallen by 39 percentage points to 41.1-42.7pc of the MWTP in the same period. That matters as several market participants base contract terms off percentage discounts rather than a physical price to account for changes in underlying intrinsic values. By Alex Nicoll Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia to create AI regulator, mandate new power
Australia to create AI regulator, mandate new power
Sydney, 15 July (Argus) — A new Australian Office of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be created to manage the boom in investment and associated demand for electricity and water resources, the federal government said, with developers expected to contribute to new power generation. The AI Office will support the growth of an industry in Australia's national interest, prime minister Anthony Albanese said on 15 July, with AI standards designed to regulate impacts on energy, copyright, productivity, education and labour rights. Australia will set rules for large data centres, including where they are built and how they use energy and water, with a legal obligation for developers to underwrite new electricity supply so that increased costs are not passed on to existing consumers, Albanese said. To ensure this, Australia's federal government will need to work with the six states, which have differing approaches to energy policy. Queensland favours gas- and coal-fired generators , while other states are seeking to increase wind power capacity, including Victoria, which is eyeing offshore wind projects to replace its brown coal-fired power stations next decade . Canberra's approach will be considered at a national cabinet meeting of state, territory and federal leaders in August, with the standards expected to be legislated early next year, Albanese said. Regulation roll-out The AI Office plan comes after months of statements by ministers and industry suggesting that copyright concerns and impacts on water and power networks would require intervention, after years of a hands-off approach. The government's national AI plan, released in December, spelled out a loose framework of expectations for data centre developers, with Canberra promising in March that regulation would eventually be enacted. Environmental groups have criticized the speed of data centre development, with the Climate Council last month warning that expansion of data centres is outstripping the pace of renewable energy investment and risks undermining both Australia's climate targets and electricity prices. Data centres developers typically prefer proximity to users in the major capitals of Sydney and Melbourne. State and local authorities have reported community opposition due to the scale of some projects and competition for land use, with some data centre sites planned for future housing. The Australian Industry (Ai) Group welcomed the announcement and said Australia was poised to benefit from more than A$10 trillion ($7 trillion) in data centre investments by 2030, boosting demand for critical minerals for semiconductor-conductors, microchips and processors to supply the sector. But investment could flow elsewhere if over-regulation undermines Australia's competitiveness, productivity and comparative advantages, the Ai Group warned, calling on Canberra to also focus on developing AI-skilled workforce and lift collaboration between Australian businesses and scientific researchers. By Tom Major Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.