Thomas Kavanagh

European silicon prices have surged to 15-year highs on sharp output cuts in China and record high regional gas prices, forcing multiple large consumers to approach the market after cancelled deliveries.

European magnesium prices surged by 80pc yesterday amid supply cuts in China and depleted European stocks, leaving key end-users in the aluminium and titanium sponge industries grappling with rapidly escalating costs and uncertain production outlooks.

Mining firms hope to re-visit old sites in Cornwall in a bid to revitalise the region's metal-based economy and fuel the global transition towards zero carbon technologies, delegates heard at today's Cornish mining conference.

The escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine is fuelling concerns about the titanium supply chain, with key producers of raw materials, metal and alloy located on both sides of the border and serving a global customer base.

The magnesium industry is increasingly looking at the electric vehicle (EV) industry as a source of growing demand for its products, with evolving technologies opening up additional applications for the metal, delegates heard today at the International Magnesium Association (IMA) conference in Barcelona.

The future of the UK's flagship battery gigafactory developer Britishvolt remains uncertain despite the company securing short-term financing and agreeing other measures that give it time to put in place "a more secure funding position for the future".

The European Parliament yesterday voted for a carbon border adjustment mechanism. It will be the first time that a climate change measure has been inserted into international trade law and could impact battery metal trade as products move around the continent.

Cobalt mining firms in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may need to adjust their operations in the coming months in response to falling copper and cobalt prices, logistical challenges and delays in securing raw materials.

Two railways headed in different directions from the African interior encapsulate the rush for so-called "green metals", with competing trade blocs vying for control of these resources to feed their drive to electrify polluting industries.

Chinese-produced electric vehicles (EVs) are due to make up 25pc of new EV sales in Europe this year, according to campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E), which recommends that tariffs on Chinese EVs be imposed to help EU carmakers survive in the short term.

Direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology has been around for a few years now, but several methods exist and are mine-specific. US-based Iliad technologies is attempting to find a universal method by which to extract lithium and export this technology to an increasingly diversified global lithium market.

Europe's cobalt metal market has diverged in recent weeks with higher prices achieved for material going to the aerospace and superalloy industries, while chemical-grade metal bound for the battery industry came under pressure from low Chinese demand.

US president-elect Donald Trump's plan to impose new tariffs against China, Mexico and Canada appears set to tighten cobalt metal supplies in the US, as one of the three western brands accepted for most aerospace uses will likely be affected.

While the inauguration of President Donald Trump may have sent a shudder through the boardrooms of electric vehicle (EV) producers, boosting the US EV market during his term may be the best way to keep Republicans in the White House in 2028.

European battery industry participants have welcomed the proposed EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) and Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) as a step in the right direction for the European lithium-ion supply chain.