Some recent comments / news below from some of our partners (SMS Group, Stelco & Itochu) as relevant to NMT’s battery recycling business. It probably goes without saying that if NMT is currently negotiating equity investment at the project level for both the Vanadium Recovery and Barrambie projects to avoid dilution in the head company, than it would be beneficial that we get some near term positive announcements on the battery recycling to boost our market cap.
SMS Group Financial Result and Commentary 12th June 2023:
In recent years, SMS has successfully transferred its core technological expertise in metallurgical plant engineering to new business areas by setting up the two joint ventures Primobius (battery recycling) and BOXBAY (port logistics). Both companies have lately been able to prove their market maturity by winning their first orders from industry customers: In the year under review, Primobius has received an order from Mercedes-Benz to build a recycling plant for lithium-ion batteries at its site in Kuppenheim. And BOXBAY has signed a contract for a vertical, fully automated high-bay storage system in Busan, South Korea.
Stelco earnings transcript (May 11 2023 with Stelco CEO Alan Kestenbaum):
Alan Kestenbaum
Yes. Well, thank you for that question. We're never satisfied with where we are. We're always looking to grow, always looking to get better. And we make thin steels right now and supply right now to the auto industry is very steels, but you're correct, those steels are going to continue to get lighter, and we have to stay on the forefront of that. And we will.
And you mentioned a few drivers in the U.S. in terms of infrastructure spending, in terms of EV growth. But I think the most exciting thing going on in North America is what's going on actually in Canada. There have been major, major oil factories, battery factories being announced in Canada.
This is driven really by two things, one, the government of Canada and Ontarian, the province of Ontario have gone out aggressively all over the world. You've got to hardly get these guys. They're always traveling in Asia and in Europe, and trying to bring in foreign windle makers to come and locate in Canada. I don't know if you guys have seen this major announcement by Volvo to locate in Ontario. It's going to be the largest auto plant in North America.
he guy was telling me, he's building this, the distance from the furthest car in the parking lot of the factory is going to be 1.5 kilometers. This is going to be an enormous, enormous driver. And the reason why these companies are locating in Canada, it's for two reasons. One, it's part of the USMCA free market for auto products and auto components and autos for the USMCA market.
In terms of producing, Canada is out promoting the following three factors: One, we have battery metals in Canada, like no other country in the world. It's a huge risk, right, whether it's lithium, whether it's cobalt, whether it's nickel, whether it's graphite, it's all located in Canada. There is not another part or place in the world with the rules where rule of law applies that has all these battery metals right there. That's one. Two, you've got recycling projects like Telco is announced the battery recycling, cutting-edge battery recycling capabilities. Three, the government is actively bringing in these auto components.
And one of the major things that they're promoting to get these auto companies in is green steel in Canada. Our government is investing in incredible amounts in the three major steel producers to produce green steel. And all these auto companies are pushing for green steel content. And that's what we have here in Canada, driven by the government's investment. It's a major, major selling point, and we happen to be a beneficiary of that policy.
So when you talk about thin steels, auto making, there is no better opportunity than I've ever seen than what's going in Canada right now. And we're right in the center, right in the eye of this massive boom that's here for those reasons. We got the -- we have the raw materials in terms of battery metals.
We had the green steel production of the automakers like we have a brilliant and available labor force in Canada, and therefore, absolutely driving very, very strong work by us to try and continuously stay ahead of the curve and improve the qualities of our steel to make sure we can service these guys in addition to the battery recycling facility that we will build to handle the batteries and provide a whole holistic solution to automakers who want to give us end-of-life cars, we can generate more battery metals for battery makers who are also located in Canada and process of steel and return green steel back to these automakers.
Itochu and ZF Group to Launch Commercial EV Business With Focus on Affordability
Itochu expects its EVs to be more cost-effective than traditional fuel-powered vehicles, even when factoring in battery subscription fees and charging costs.
On June 26, Itochu Corporation announced its debut in the commercial electric vehicle (EV) market. Collaborating with ZF Friedrichshafen AG (ZF Group), Germany's third-largest automotive parts manufacturer, Itochu aims to introduce commercial EVs with a payload capacity of 1-2 metric tons (about 2204-4409lbs) in the domestic market by 2026. This marks the first entry into the commercial EV sector by a major Japanese general trading company.
(20min delay)
