Glencore CEO Says It is in Talks with Carmakers and Battery Makers about Nickel

Glencore is in development with several carmakers and battery guys to talk about nickel. The increasing demand of nickel will bring more customers on gate.  

Glencore plc (GLNCY) recently reported that the company is in talks with carmakers and battery makers about nickel, which is a key product used in EV batteries.

On Friday, the Chief Operating Officer of the company, Ivan Glasenberg highlighted that they are talking with car and battery manufacturers about nickel. The increasing demand for EV batteries by companies like Tesla has asked miners to produce more of nickel. The demand of nickel is increasing quite swiftly because nickel is a key component used in the electric vehicle batteries.

Glencore a Swiss-based global mining and commodities trader that has produced around 121,000 tonnes of nickel during 2019 and sold 181,000 tonnes of nickel. The company owns a vast area of nickel mines in Canada, New Caledonia, Australia, and a nickel refinery in Norway.

Mr. Glasenberg mentioned that they have been approached by various battery guys. Talking during the Financial Times Mining Summit, he said:

“A lot of the automobile guys and the battery guys are talking to us about nickel.

This year the company secured an agreement with EV giant Tesla to supply it with cobalt from the Congo. The miner is also supplying cobalt metal from its Murrin Murrin nickel-cobalt mine in Australia to the German carmaker BMW.

The mining companies are under increasing pressure to address the indirect emissions from mining. However, the CEO clarified that Glencore will not replace its coal mines as part of its efforts to cut ‘Scope 3’ emissions, rather they will continue to work on its coal mines.

Glencore has committed to a 30% reduction in Scope 3 emissions by 2035. Glasenberg said that Scope 1 and 2 emissions of Glencore together reflect only 10% of its Scope 3 emissions, which shows that how significant these indirect emissions are, especially for miners related to thermal coal which is used for the generation of electricity by burning the coal.

The company plans to make an official announcement on its Scope 3 emissions on December 4, 2020. Glasenberg said:

“We are looking at how the market looks. We are reviewing all our coal operations.

The CEO intends to have his focus on running down existing coal mines, rather than going the other way around. He said:

“I don’t see how spinning off coal mines will help us reduce Scope 3 emissions.

In addition, Glencore plc (GLNCY) is set to send the very first batch of spot liquefied natural gas cargo to Zhoushan in eastern China. The company on Friday reported regarding a new trading joint venture with Zhejiang Energy Group.

The joint venture between both the firms dates back to 2018. The joint venture has traded around 5 million tonnes of oil and gas during the first half of this year.

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