China’s Sinopec invests in CATL for EV battery growth

Spanish Market: Battery materials, Metals
23/05/25

Chinese state-controlled oil refiner Sinopec has invested in country's largest battery producer CATL, to help reach its target of building 10,000 electric vehicle (EV) battery exchange stations.

Sinopec was the largest cornerstone investor in CATL's initial public offering (IPO) this week, it said on 23 May. CATL raised $4.6bn from the sale of 135.6mn of its shares on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 20 May, in what was likely the world's largest IPO this year.

The two firms reached an initial agreement in April to build more than 500 EV battery exchange stations nationwide this year. They have set a target of building 10,000 stations in the long term.

Sinopec and CATL on 21 May also reached final agreement to co-operate on the Qiji Exchange Station project for heavy trucks in southeast China's Fujian province. The project will serve road freight transportation on the coastal route between the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta using CATL's latest battery exchange system.

Sinopec has so far built 30,000 integrated energy charging stations in China to serve 300mn users, including around 10,000 EV charging and battery exchange stations.

An increasing number of conventional energy companies in China have accelerated investments in the new energy market in recent years, particularly given rapid growth in the country's EV sales. State-run energy firm and refiner PetroChina launched a "supercharger satiation" in the Yili road area of Shanghai in March.

PetroChina, domestic automaker SAIC, Sinopec and CATL established the Shanghai JieNeng Zhidui New Energy Technology joint venture in September 2022, to lease EV battery packs and develop EV battery exchange technology.

CATL is building a 40 GWh/yr factory in Dongying, which is the largest oil refining city in China.

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19/06/25

ArcelorMittal halts DRI-EAF projects in the EU

London, 19 June (Argus) — Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal said it will not proceed with previously announced direct-reduced iron (DRI) and electric arc furnace (EAF) decarbonisation projects at Bremen and Eisenhuttenstadt in Germany, citing the unfavourable policy and market environment. The company initially planned to supply DRI from Bremen to the EAF in Eisenhuttenstadt after their construction. But in November last year, the company said it was unable to take final investment decisions on building the DRI-EAF assets in the EU because of challenging energy, policy and market environments that were not moving in a favourable direction. ArcelorMittal this week announced that it will carry out repair works on blast furnace 5A at its Eisenhuttenstadt site next week until 28 June, similar to the repairs last year. The blast furnace has capacity of 2.5mn t/yr. The company has urged the EU to accelerate enforcement of the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), strengthen trade protections and implement the EU Metals Action Plan to restore the competitiveness of low-emissions steel. In May, ArcelorMittal confirmed its intention to invest €1.2bn in a new EAF at its Dunkirk site in France. Market participants suggest the company was delaying its DRI investments in Ghent, Belgium, and Dunkirk, but the steelmaker has yet to comment. The French government in 2023 approved an €850mn grant to ArcelorMittal to decarbonise its Dunkirk asset. By Elif Eyuboglu Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Nationalisation may prop up surplus steel: Worldsteel

19/06/25

Nationalisation may prop up surplus steel: Worldsteel

New York, 19 June (Argus) — Redundant steelmaking capacity is unlikely to be reduced by decarbonisation and market forces, given global fragmentation and the focus on resilient supply chains, Edwin Basson, director general of international industry organisation Worldsteel, told Argus this week. "If you asked me five years ago, I would have said I suspect decarbonisation and market forces would have led to reductions in redundant capacities, but the few recent examples we've seen of nationalisation or re-nationalisation, quasi-nationalisation, will most likely see countries try to retain steelmaking capacity," Basson said on the sidelines of the Global Steel Dynamics Forum in New York. There are several instances of governments becoming involved in the operation of troubled mills in Europe and the UK. Basson said the industry's future direction depends on three main forces — environmental, employment and economic efficiency. In previous decades, economic efficiency was the main driver, allowing inefficient capacity to close or be modified. But the zeitgeist of reshoring, re-regionalisation and focus on employment has challenged this force, also contributing to the continued operation of surplus capacity that is not necessarily required by the market. "The strength of this efficiency force has reduced the labour and the environmental force is receiving more prominence at the moment. The moment you put a national interest filter on top of all of this, then the efficiency force becomes of minimal importance," he said. And there is limited room to consolidate producers in developed markets, such as the US and EU, given competition concerns, which also dampens cross-border consolidation to some extent. There is scope for consolidation in China, which is still behind the targets set by the government in the previous five-year plan — of 60pc of capacity being consolidated — and in smaller developing economies, shrinking the long tail of smaller producers. Worldsteel forecasts that half of all steel will still be made in blast furnaces in about 20 years from now, despite the current focus on decarbonisation. There is insufficient scrap in the world for the whole industry to move away from blast furnaces and insufficient high-quality direct-reduced iron feed, Basson said. In the EU, where decarbonisation is perhaps the most pressing issue as mills face mounting carbon taxes, the energy challenge is of particular significance. "There is a reason that Scandinavia is, at least in the EU, the home of very progressive decarbonisation producers," he said. "They have access to high-quality materials, direct-reduced iron and so forth, and access to high-quality sustainable energy that is not carbon-based. It's a very different story in other parts of northern Europe, where energy is a key question, and a different question again in the south, where it's energy and access to raw materials." "There will be multiple pathways to decarbonise, depending on location, and Europe may soften its policies to enable existing production routes to remain a force for a number of years longer," he said. Exponential breakthrough technologies related to the blast furnace could see emissions fall to a similar level as the gas-fed direct-reduced iron/electric arc furnace of 1.3-1.4t of carbon per tonne of steel. By Colin Richardson Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

India's new steel input quality rule to curb imports

19/06/25

India's new steel input quality rule to curb imports

Mumbai, 19 June (Argus) — India's ministry of steel has issued an order stating raw materials used in imported finished steel products should meet Indian quality standards. This is likely to restrict imports, resulting in shortages of specialty steel products used by the automotive industry and other consumers, industry participants said. The order, issued on 13 June, will now require semi-finished products such as slab, billets and ingots to comply with Indian standards, even if the finished steel product already has a Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) certification. If an overseas supplier has a BIS permit for IS 2062 grade hot-rolled coil, it will also need a similar certification for IS 14650-grade slab. For downstream products such as hot-dip galvanised steel, the input materials would constitute hot-rolled and cold-rolled sheets and strips, which would also need BIS certification, along with semi-finished products. Earlier exporters only needed BIS compliance for the final steel product and not the input material. The original quality control order covered 151 steel products. Steel consumers concerned A provisional 12pc safeguard duty implemented from 21 April has slowed imports of certain flat steel products. The new quality control rule, referred to by some industry participants as an additional "barrier" for imports, is applicable to imports with a bill of lading on or after 16 June. It has stoked concerns among micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that consume overseas steel not made in India, market participants said. The order "has triggered fears of massive losses and plant closures among MSMEs that rely on imported semi-finished steel," according to a report by think-tank the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI). "Many have already paid for shipments now deemed non-compliant," the report said. The automotive industry is likely to face production hurdles. Japan has been supplying a lot of specialty steel, which is not manufactured in India, to the Indian automotive industry, sources said. An automotive end-user said they were in talks with the government and declined to comment on the new order. "Steel users across India are shocked," an international steel trader said. In certain cases such as cold-rolled non-oriented steel, a type of electrical steel used in motors, the raw materials such as cold-rolled full hard steel (CRFH) or hot-rolled coil (HRC) may have BIS licence but inputs used to make CRFH or HRC may not meet Indian standards, the trader added. There is already a shortfall of certain speciality steel grades in India. Only about 12pc of the required 400,000t of cold-rolled grain-oriented steel (CRGO) was produced domestically in April 2023-March 2024, according to GTRI. The remaining volumes were imported from overseas suppliers such as China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. India launched a new production-linked incentive scheme for speciality steel products this year, with less criteria for investment than the previous version. The new steel input quality rule is clearly in line with the government's "Make in India" initiative, a Mumbai-based trader said. It will now be difficult to get imports purchased in recent weeks by steel consumers, another Mumbai-based trading company said, adding that market conditions are tilting in favor of domestic producers. The new order is also expected to weigh on imports of plate from South Korean producers which do not have a BIS for certain input materials, the trader said. By Amruta Khandekar Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Syrah restarts graphite production at Mozambique mine

19/06/25

Syrah restarts graphite production at Mozambique mine

Sydney, 19 June (Argus) — Australian minerals producer Syrah Resources has resumed graphite production at its 350,000 t/yr Balama mine in Mozambique and will restart large-volume shipments in September-December, following months of disruptions owing to protests. Syrah declared a force majeure on sales from Balama in December because of protests at the site, and this remains active, the company said today. But it has restarted production and intends to ramp up output at the mine to restock inventories for shipments in September-December, Syrah said. Its graphite exports in September-December will be shipped to customers outside China. The company is aiming to have a greater presence in ex-China markets and to increase sales from Balama this year, Syrah chairman Jim Askew told investors on 23 May. Syrah sold around 1,300t of natural graphite in January-March, using existing inventories. But the company failed to meet some sales obligations over the quarter. Non-violent protesters blocked access to Balama in September, citing farming resettlement grievances. The demonstrations worsened in October, after Mozambique's disputed general election triggered major protests across the country. Most protesters left the mine in April, after reaching a deal with Syrah, the company said last month —although some remaining demonstrators had to be removed by Mozambique authorities a month later. Syrah regained access to Balama on 3-4 May. Balama's operating infrastructure has not been impacted by the protests and is in good condition, Askew said in late May. By Avinash Govind Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US Fed sees 2 rate cuts in '25, eyes tariffs: Update

18/06/25

US Fed sees 2 rate cuts in '25, eyes tariffs: Update

Adds Powell comments, economic backdrop. Houston, 18 June (Argus) — US Federal Reserve policymakers kept the target interest rate unchanged today and signaled two quarter-point cuts are still likely this year while downgrading forecasts for the US economy in the face of largely tariff-driven uncertainty. The Fed's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) held the federal funds rate unchanged at 4.25-4.50pc, in the fourth meeting of 2025. This followed rate cuts of 100 basis points over the last three meetings of 2024, which lowered the target rate from more than two-decade highs. In the Fed's first release of updated economic projections since President Donald Trump's 2 April "Liberation Day" announcement of far-ranging tariffs, policymakers continued to pencil in two quarter-point rate cuts for the remainder of the year. "Changes to trade, immigration, fiscal and regulatory policies continue to evolve and their effects on the economy remain uncertain," Fed chair Jerome Powell told reporters after the meeting. "Today, the amount of the tariff effects — the size of the tariff effects, their duration and the time it will take, are all highly uncertain. So that is why we think the appropriate thing to do is to hold where we are as we learn more." Policymakers and Fed officials Wednesday lowered their median estimate for GDP growth this year to 1.4pc from a prior estimate of 1.7pc in the March economic outlook. They see inflation rising to a median 3pc for 2025 from the prior estimate of 2.7pc, with unemployment rising to 4.5pc from 4.4pc in the prior forecast. Economists have warned that Trump's erratic use of tariffs and plans to raise the national debt, along with mounting geopolitical risk highlighted by the latest Israel-Iran clashes, threaten to throw the economy into a recession or marked slowdown. Consumer confidence has tumbled and financial markets have been volatile while the dollar has slumped to three-year lows. Still, the labor market and inflation — the two pillars of the Fed's policy mandate — have remained relatively stable into the fifth month of Trump's administration. "As long as the economy is solid, as long as we're seeing the kind of labor market that we have and reasonably decent growth, and inflation moving down, we feel like the right thing to do is to be where we are, where our policy stance is and learn more," Powell said. US job growth slowed to 139,000 in May, near the average gain of 149,000 over the prior 12 months and unemployment has remained in a range of 4-4.2pc since May 2024. Consumer inflation was at an annual 2.4pc in May, down from 3pc in January. US GDP growth contracted by an annual 0.2pc in the first quarter, largely due to an increase in imports on pre-tariff stockpiling, down from 2.4pc in the fourth quarter and the lowest in three years. "What we're waiting for to reduce rates is to understand what will happen with the tariff inflation," Powell said. "And there's a lot of uncertainty about that. Every forecaster you can name who is a professional is forecasting a meaningful increase in inflation in coming months from tariffs because someone has to pay for the tariffs." Before Wednesday's FOMC announcement, Trump made a rambling attack on the Fed's policy under Powell, in remarks to reporters at the White House. "I call him 'too late Powell', because he's always too late" in lowering rates. "Am I allowed to appoint myself at the Fed? I do a much better job than these people." Powell's term in office as Fed chair expires in May 2026. Powell declined to directly address Trump's comments. By Bob Willis Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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