And in the spoiler is an excerpt I thought was relevant to AVL
(including a highlighted bit which I very much hope is particularly relevant to AVL!)
….And to recap, over the past couple of years, the US has passed three landmark pieces of legislation to accelerate the global transition to a green energy future. Taken together, over the next ten years, these laws will invest and incentivize an estimated $1.5 trillion into research and development, clean energy and electric vehicles, and infrastructure and supply chain security.
The best known is the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which– in its first year– has driven more than $110 billion in new clean energy manufacturing investments, including more than $70 billion in EV supply chains. This is in addition to the more than $400 billion for more than 40,000 specific projects funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in its first two years. This includes $7 billion for battery manufacturing and processing, $7 billion for clean hydrogen, and billions more to electrify public transport and improve energy transmission.
Perhaps most relevant to this audience, the IRA incentivizes the use of critical minerals from countries such as Australia which have a Free Trade Agreement with the United States. It has already stimulated more than $5 billion of US investment into this country and Australian companies. US automakers have secured more than $19 billion AUD in offtake agreements here. And much more is coming.
Our new Climate and Critical Minerals cooperation has already started to yield results. I was privileged to be part of Prime Minister Albanese’s Official Visit to the White House and to take part in the first meeting of the Critical Minerals Task Force led by Minister King and President Biden’s Senior Adviser for Energy and Investment, Amos Hochstein.
I also attended the Critical Minerals Round Table with the PM and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, along with executives from companies represented here.
In December, in addition to passing historic AUKUS legislation, the US Congress declared Australian companies eligible for Defense Dept funding on the same basis as their US counterparts under our Defense Production Act. The Defense Department is already working with Australian companies in the US, and can now also provide significant funding for projects here in Australia for needs we cannot meet domestically.
The US is mobilizing a whole of government approach to secure critical minerals supply chains from trusted vendors with high ESG standards and worker protections. And perhaps the most significant long – term actions are the US-Australia collaboration on supply chain mapping, standard-setting on international price stabilization and transparency, exploring ways to streamline our regulatory frameworks, and use public-sector tools to more effectively de-risk, backstop, and incentivize private sector investment.
EXIM Bank has worked hard to redefine criteria to expand its cooperation with EFA (Export Finance Australia) and is looking for new projects in Australia. For example, last month EXIM issued a $600 million Letter of Interest to Australian Strategic Minerals to finance US content and services at ASM’s Dubbo project. EXIM has already signed a Letter of Interest with Liontown and hopefully another WA project will be next. I have told EXIM Chair Lewis that Perth needs to be the first stop on her upcoming trip.
Australia is also setting ambitious goals and working in multilateral fora to drive progress – at both the federal and state levels. I have visited the green hydro demo project in SA and wind turbines in NSW. I have met with counterparts in DCCEEW, DISR, and CSIRO who are working with US colleagues in the Dept of Energy labs, National Science Foundation, NASA, and USGS.
Minister King is a tireless advocate for international standards that protect the health and safety of workers and the environment, rather than allow unchecked exploitation by state-owned Chinese companies in Indonesia and elsewhere. We can’t let them destroy vulnerable communities and the markets for Australian minerals under the guise of economic development.
The commodities you manage are not only the basis for our economies. Our future national security, and the health of our planet depends on them as well. And they are under assault…..
If not us, then who?
cheers
AVL Price at posting:
1.7¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
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(20min delay)