Ningde Era And Luoyang Molybdenum Industry'S "Penetration Purchase"

Luoyang molybdenum industry has established strategic cooperation with Ningde times, and kisanfu project development is expected to accelerate.

On the evening of April 11, Luoyang molybdenum industry announced information disclosure, deepening cooperation with Ningde times in terms of project strategic shareholding, product underwriting, expanding cooperation and establishing all-round strategic partnership of new energy metals. At the same time, Ningde times will jointly develop this large-scale copper cobalt mine through its holding company, Bangpu times, to take a stake in kisanfu copper cobalt mine project of Luoyang molybdenum industry in Congo (DRC).

On April 10, the two sides reached a deal. Through a wholly-owned subsidiary of time new energy, the company will acquire 25% of KFM's shares for a total consideration of $137.5 million. After the completion of the transaction, the shareholding ratio of lomo holding and bang Pu times in KFM holding was 75% and 25% respectively. The two sides will undertake the capital expenditure of the project in proportion to their shareholding in KFM, and jointly invest and develop the kisanfu project to build it into a world-class large copper and cobalt production base.

On April 13, Yue Yuanbin, the general secretary office of Luoyang molybdenum industry, said in an interview with the 21st century economic reporter: "as a global leading power battery enterprise, Ningde era plays an important role in the global new energy industry chain. KFM is one of the highest grade copper cobalt mines to be developed in the world. The introduction of strong shareholders is conducive to the more responsible and sustainable development of the project, making contributions to all stakeholders and the development of new energy industry. For Luoyang molybdenum, through this cooperation, one of the long-term customers of cobalt products can be locked in advance, which can strengthen the long-term strategic coordination of both sides. "

"After the cooperation between the two sides, the specific operation of KFM is in the charge of Luoyang molybdenum industry, and Ningde era does not intervene in the specific management. At present, KFM is still in the preliminary preparation stage such as feasibility study, and the company will perform the review and information disclosure procedures according to the listing rules and other requirements according to the specific progress. " Yue continued.

In fact, the above cooperation has taken an important step in the development of KFM copper cobalt ore, which is expected to accelerate the transformation from resource advantage to profit advantage.

Win win cooperation

According to Yue Yuanbin, KFM copper cobalt mine is the world's top copper cobalt project. As one of the main materials of new energy batteries, cobalt is a very scarce strategic metal. The acquisition of the mineral resources makes the company increase its resource reserves and play an important role in the transformation of the global energy industry. At the same time, KFM is not far away from TMF, another large copper cobalt ore asset of Luomo, and will have significant synergistic effect.

The transfer of 25% equity of Ningde times by Luoyang molybdenum industry is close to parity transfer. At that time, Luoyang molybdenum Co., Ltd. acquired 95% indirect interest in kisanfu copper cobalt ore in Congo (DRC) for a total price of US $550 million. Through this acquisition, the company's Cobalt resources leapt to the first in the world.

"This cooperation strengthens the close contact with resource end application customers, promotes the sustainable and healthy development of the industry, and consolidates the leading position of Luoyang molybdenum industry in the field of battery metal and raw material supply of electric vehicles." Yue Yuanbin pointed out that "as a global power battery leading enterprise, Ningde era plays an important role in the global new energy industry chain. The introduction of strong shareholders this time is conducive to more responsible and sustainable development of the project and contribute to the development of all stakeholders and the new energy industry. "

"As a leading global resource company of new energy metals, Luoyang molybdenum industry has the resource reserves of cobalt, nickel, copper and other new energy metals and strong mine development and operation capacity. After deeply binding with Ningde era, the global leading power battery enterprise, it will promote the common development of China's new energy industry chain."

Public information shows that through expanding cooperation and establishing a comprehensive strategic partnership in the field of new energy metal resources, the two sides will jointly pay attention to the industrial development trend and expand the scope of cooperation to metal resources varieties needed by other new energy industries. Under the framework of the strategic cooperation agreement, the two sides further confirmed the cooperation in the development of nickel resources and nickel metal smelting in Indonesia, the acquisition and development of lithium resources at home and abroad, the development of new energy metal resources such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper, and the development of metal varieties required by other new energy sources.

Yue Yuanbin said: "from the industry point of view, the current strength of precursor, cathode, battery manufacturers, vehicle manufacturers tend to lock in the upstream raw material supply, the cooperation has set a good benchmark for the industry development."

Market mainstream

Since Tesla proposed "cobalt free" battery last year, this direction has been recognized by many battery manufacturers. Ningde times has responded to whether it has technical reserves of cobalt battery and its research and development is smooth. It is trying to do a good job in the supply chain. It has doubts about the possibility of its own cobalt demand declining.

Zeng Yuqun, chairman of Ningde times, pointed out: "the lithium battery industry has ushered in the TWH (100 million kwh) era. The key condition to ensure high-quality delivery is the stable and compliant supply of raw materials. Ningde times has long been highly concerned about the construction of cobalt supply chain. Luoyang molybdenum industry follows the international ESG standard and is the leader in the field of battery metal and electric vehicle raw material supply. This time, the two sides will give full play to their respective advantages in the field of new energy metal resources such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper, and contribute to the development of new energy automobile industry and the realization of carbon peak and carbon neutralization. "

In this regard, Yue Yuanbin thinks: "ternary battery is still the mainstream of the market, which has the advantages of high energy density and long service life. The promotion of "cobalt removal" by domestic enterprises is mainly based on the consideration of cost reduction. The trend of high nickel content has gradually become the industry consensus, and the decline trend of cobalt consumption per unit material is irreversible. However, high nickel does not mean no cobalt. Cobalt is very important to stabilize the layered structure and thus the battery performance. Moreover, with the increase of the penetration rate of electric vehicles in the future, the total demand for cobalt will also maintain an upward trend. "

Li Chao, chief nonferrous steel analyst of CITIC Securities, pointed out in his research report that the cooperative parties underwrite products according to the shareholding ratio, indicating that the trend of penetration procurement in the cobalt industry is constantly strengthening, and highlights the importance of cobalt resources. "On the one hand, penetration procurement in the cobalt field under the form of underwriting can guarantee the stable supply of raw materials in Ningde era and meet the requirements of the responsible mining assurance Initiative (IRMA); on the other hand, the cooperation between the upstream resource end and the battery factory will further reduce the flexibility of smelting and processing, highlight the importance of the resource side, and the trend of" cobalt free "may be falsified, and the long-term demand for cobalt will be improved Step by step. "

Luoyang molybdenum industry responded that "as a responsible cobalt producer, the company will reasonably plan the output according to the market situation, so as to ensure the long-term stable and sustainable development of the whole cobalt supply chain." It is reported that Luoyang molybdenum industry plans to exploit 16500-20100 tons of cobalt resources in 2021.

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