Two pieces of oldish news below. The underlined info... For...

Two pieces of oldish news below. The underlined info...
For every Ni-related economic/political factor discussed on HC ARL threads, the JC and ARL have first-hand and far better intel than we do. Also, AP had stated more than once that the JC are a pleasure to work with during the DD process.
There are no guarantees, of course. But if the info is still not persuasive enough to indicate the ARL-JC negotiation outcome, then just have to wait for the official confirmation and pay a hefty premium for that confirmation.

TOKYO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining is considering producing cathode battery materials in the United States among other options as it looks to expand output to meet demand from electric vehicles, an executive said on Thursday.

Sumitomo Metal, which supplies the nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCA) cathode materials for the Panasonic lithium-ion batteries used in Tesla EVs, is building a plant in Niihama, western Japan, to boost annual cathode production capacity by 24,000 metric tons in 2025 from 60,000 tons now.

"Where and when to increase our production capacity next time depends on each country's regulations and laws," Katsuya Tanaka, managing executive officer, told an analyst meeting.

"We are examining the impact from any changes to laws and regulations, including the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), will have on business, if we were to invest in the United States, especially with the presidential election coming up next year," he said.

The IRA includes major provisions to cut carbon emission, boost domestic production and manufacturing. Sumitomo Metal plans to bolster its annual output capacity to 120,000 tons by March 2028 and 180,000 tons by March 2031.

The company, which is also a miner and smelter, is also accelerating exploration of a new nickel mine, another executive said. It abandoned a long-running feasibility study on an Indonesian nickel project in Pomalaa.


S&P Capital IQ, 2024 - Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. provided production guidance for the full year 2024, first half of 2025, second half of 2025 and year 2025.

For the year 2024, the company expects Electrolytic copper to be 399,500 t. Electrolytic nickel to be 60,200 t. Ferronickel to be 7,000 t. Gold to be 18,800 kg. Silver to be 215,000 kg.

For the year 2025, the company expects Electrolytic copper to be 454,000 t. Electrolytic nickel to be 63,100 t. Ferronickel to be 4,300 t. Gold to be 15,600 kg. Silver to be 189,000 kg.

For the first half of 2025, the company expects Electrolytic copper to be 227,000 t. Electrolytic nickel to be 31,100 t. Ferronickel to be 2,100 t. Gold to be 7,800 kg. Silver to be 94,500 kg.
For the second half of 2025, the company expects Electrolytic copper to be 227,000 t. Electrolytic nickel to be 32,000 t. Ferronickel to be 2,200 t. Gold to be 7,800 kg. Silver to be 94,500 kg.

End.