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1 week ago | 
cryptostudent.io | Alfred Cang |Annie Lee
[[{„value”:”A pioneering group of Indonesian nickel smelters with the world’s lowest production costs has been hit by a jump in the price of a key raw material, crimping their profitability just as the market is saddled with a glut. The price of sulfur, a chemical used to produce acid, has more than tripled in price over the past year, driven by increased demand. That’s a headache for producers in Indonesia that use high-pressure acid leaching, known as HPAL.
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1 week ago | 
fortune.com | Alfred Cang |Annie Lee
The price of sulfur, a chemical used to produce acid, has more than tripled in price over the past year, driven by increased demand. That’s a headache for producers in Indonesia that use high-pressure acid leaching, known as HPAL. The breakthrough technique enables the smelters to extract metal from low-grade ore with chemicals, avoiding the need for blast furnaces.
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1 week ago | 
bloomberg.com | Alfred Cang |Annie Lee
The nickel processing complex operated by Harita Nickel on Obi Island in Indonesia. (Bloomberg) -- A pioneering group of Indonesian nickel smelters with the world’s lowest production costs has been hit by a jump in the price of a key raw material, crimping their profitability just as the market is saddled with a glut. The price of sulfur, a chemical used to produce acid, has more than tripled in price over the past year, driven by increased demand.
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4 weeks ago | 
bloomberg.com | Annie Lee |Alfred Cang
A hot steel slab is cooled with water during rolling inside the Hoa Phat Group production complex at the Dung Quat Economic Zone, Quang Ngai province, Vietnam, on Friday, May 16, 2025. Vietnam’s top steelmaker Hoa Phat Group is counting on the nation’s rising economic growth and massive infrastructure projects from railways to seaports to fuel the company’s expansion and cushion any fallout from US tariffs.
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1 month ago | 
bloomberg.com | James Attwood |Annie Lee
(Bloomberg) -- SQM sold record amounts of lithium in the first quarter, despite prices languishing at multiyear lows as one of the world’s top producers of the battery metal counts on low costs to grow market share. The Chilean company said its sales volume jumped 27% year-on-year in the three months through March, feeding strong growth in the electric-vehicle market, especially in China, and new demand from energy storage systems.
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1 month ago | 
bloomberg.com | Annie Lee |Katharine Gemmell
(Bloomberg) -- Prices of a key Chinese steel product used in construction were at their lowest since 2017 as the world’s biggest market for the metal grappled with a massive glut. Reinforcement bar — or rebar for short — is a benchmark for China’s traditional steel markets because it’s used to strengthen concrete in buildings and infrastructure. The eight-year low in Shanghai highlights the demand struggle facing steelmakers due to a prolonged downturn in the country’s property sector.
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1 month ago | 
bloomberg.com | Annie Lee |Yihui Xie
Haul trucks move iron ore at the Vale N4W mine in Parauapebas, Para state, Brazil, on Monday, May 15, 2023. Vale SA is plowing ahead with a $2.7 billion investment to expand iron output in Brazil's Amazon, betting demand for high-grade ore will stay strong in an overall softer market. Photographer: Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg(Bloomberg) -- Iron ore extended its losing streak for a fourth day as traders remained cautious about demand and assessed moves to limit overcapacity in China’s steel sector.
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1 month ago | 
bloomberg.com | Annie Lee |Julian Luk
Various rare earth minerals on display in a showroom in Inner Mongolia, China. (Bloomberg) -- China will clamp down on the smuggling of strategic minerals, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday, mandating officials to tighten checks in line with increased export controls. In a statement after a planning meeting with other government agencies, the ministry said that preventing the illegal outflow of key metals was “an urgent and important task,” required to safeguard national security.
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2 months ago | 
bloomberg.com | Rachel Yeo |Annie Lee
A worker assembles a battery at GEM Co.'s battery recycling plant in Wuhan. (Bloomberg) -- GEM Co Ltd., a Chinese battery-materials producer, aims to ramp up its recycling capacity for niche metals that have been targeted in the trade war between the US and China. The company plans to build a high-purity germanium manufacturing and recycling base, according to its earnings report on Saturday.
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2 months ago | 
insurancejournal.com | Alfred Cang |Annie Lee |Eddie Spence
A deadly landslide at a top nickel-producing hub in Indonesia has heightened scrutiny of a method used to extract the battery metal from low-grade ore, spurring concern among buyers about the future of a vital source of supply. Two workers were killed and one was left missing after the accident at the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park on Sulawesi island last month.
