Latest news with #rawmaterials
Khaleej Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
EU picks 13 new critical material projects, including in Greenland
The European Commission on Wednesday announced 13 new raw material projects outside the bloc to increase its supplies of metals and minerals essential for it to stay competitive in the energy transition as well as defence and aerospace. The EU's announcement follows China's decision in April to impose export curbs on rare earth magnets until new licences are obtained, leaving diplomats, carmakers and other executives from Europe and elsewhere scrambling to secure meetings with Beijing officials and avert factory shutdowns. China controls more than 90% of global processing capacity for the magnets, used in everything from vehicles and fighter jets to home appliances. Beijing is also the main supplier of many key inputs for renewable energy, especially rare earths, batteries and solar panels, a situation Brussels is keen to change. The EU list is part of the implementation of the Critical Raw Material Act agreed in 2023 under which the bloc aims to mine 10%, process 40% and recycle 25% of its needs by 2030. Most of the new projects will be focused on materials essential for electric vehicle batteries and battery storage, including lithium, cobalt, manganese and graphite. Two projects for rare earths are located in Malawi and South Africa. Rare earths are used to produce magnets in wind turbines. The projects are located in Britain, Canada, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Norway, Serbia, Ukraine, Zambia, Brazil and the French territory of New Caledonia. The British project is to extract tungsten and the ones in Ukraine and Greenland will be for graphite, with the project in Greenland run by GreenRoc Strategic Materials. Greenland has been a point of tension between Brussels and Washington this year after US President Donald Trump repeatedly said he wanted to acquire the Danish overseas territory. US officials have discussed a plan to pull Greenland into America's sphere of influence with a type of agreement called Cofa that the US has used to maintain close ties with several Pacific Island nations. Under Cofa, the US government offers essential services and in exchange, the US military operates freely while trade with the US is largely duty-free. The EU has estimated that the projects would need an overall capital investment of 5.5 billion euros ($6.27 billion) to get off the ground. They would receive coordinated financial support and buyer interest from the Commission, member states and lenders. The new list brings the total number of strategic projects to 60. In March, the Commission announced 47 projects within the EU.
Bloomberg
28-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
China Plans Commodities Overhaul to Attract Global Investors
China is on the cusp of its biggest move yet to open up its vast commodities markets, after the Shanghai Futures Exchange unveiled an internationalization plan to streamline access for overseas investors. The country's biggest raw materials bourse is soliciting views on a proposal to let participants post foreign exchange as collateral for yuan-denominated trades, according to a statement on Tuesday. Restrictions on foreigners and their capital are an oft-cited reason for China's failure to punch its weight in international markets.
Reuters
09-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
India's Thermax misses profit estimates on weak demand for industrial machines
May 9 (Reuters) - India's Thermax ( opens new tab reported fourth-quarter profit below expectations on Friday, hurt by weak demand for its industrial machines and higher raw material costs. Capital goods companies, which depend heavily on government orders, have seen a slowdown in such inflows in recent quarters. Analysts say government capex remained subdued across most segments in the reporting quarter as well. Thermax's order booking dropped 8% to 21.19 billion rupees and a spike in raw materials costs pushed up the company's expenses by 11%. The industrial machine maker's consolidated net profit rose 8% to 2.06 billion rupees ($24 million)in the quarter ended March 31, from 1.9 billion rupees a year ago. Analysts had expected a profit of 2.08 billion rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG. Thermax's revenue grew about 12% to 30.85 billion rupees for the March-quarter, below analysts' expectation of 31.22 billion rupees. Revenue from Thermax's industrial products segment grew 18.5%, while that from division that sets up bio-CNG and power plants rose 4%. The quarterly results were affected by 660 million rupees cost related to the company's bio-CNG projects, it said in a statement. Peer ABB India ( opens new tab reported higher first-quarter profit on Friday on steady demand for its electrification products. ($1 = 85.3070 Indian rupees)
