Stable Prices at Northern Ports for Australian, South African, Gabon, and Brazilian Ores

According to Red Metal Resources on September 3, the Farellon project, part of the company’s Carrizal copper-gold-cobalt property near Vallenar, Chile, has completed its first delivery of copper sulphide ore, marking the project’s transition from the development stage to actual ore sales and small-scale production. Project lessee and operator Minera KMT transported the first batch of ore to the Vallenar processing facility operated by Chile’s state-owned mining company ENAMI on August 20 and 21. The milestone came only about three months after the parties signed a mining agreement in May, around four months ahead of the original seven-month development schedule. Farellon is an important part of the Carrizal copper-gold-cobalt property. The first ore delivery is expected to generate royalty revenue for Red Metal and lay the groundwork for further expansion of mining and processing activities. The company has not yet disclosed the specific cobalt grade, cobalt output or recovery rate for the delivered ore. However, the project’s move into actual production and sales represents a new development in Chile’s cobalt resource pipeline outside Africa.

This week, the industry chain continued to consolidate on a weak note, with clear divergence between supply and demand. On the upstream side, raw material suppliers remained firm in holding prices, while downstream buyers continued to push for lower prices, widening the psychological price spread between buyers and sellers and making spot transactions difficult to advance. Some salt products came under pressure due to lower raw material costs, low-price selling by traders, and weak demand, with a few varieties already pulling back slightly. The price center of powder materials continued to shift lower, with weakening cost support, and the market remained in a bottoming phase. Midstream materials showed divergent performance: some precursors were dragged down by weaker nickel salts, with order coefficients under pressure and domestic production schedules subdued, though overseas high-nickel orders remained relatively stable. Cathode materials were affected by raw material price fluctuations and downward revisions in end-use orders, prompting battery cell manufacturers to restock cautiously, with domestic production schedules in September expected to decline. On the consumption side, the September-October peak season effect has yet to materialize clearly, with end-use demand recovery in mobile phones and other terminals remaining limited, and the industry chain overall dominated by just-in-time procurement and destocking. In the short term, the market lacks clear upward drivers, and prices are likely to continue consolidating on a subdued note. Going forward, the focus will be on the strength of September restocking, improvements in end-use orders, and changes in upstream pricing strategies.

인도 중앙전력청은 2027년 7월 1일 이후 가동되는 지상형 태양광 및 육상 풍력 프로젝트에 대해 설비용량의 최소 10%에 해당하는 동일 부지 에너지저장장치 설치를 의무화하는 기술기준 개정안 초안을 발표했다. 저장시간은 최소 2시간이며, 2029년 7월부터 2031년 6월까지 가동되는 프로젝트는 4시간으로 늘어난다. 이 초안은 또한 재생에너지 발전소 인버터의 최소 15%가 계통형성 제어 기능을 갖추도록 요구하며, 배터리 저장장치의 모든 전력변환장치는 계통형성 방식이어야 한다. 이해관계자 의견은 10월 4일까지 접수한다. 주간 잉여 전력을 전력망이 흡수하지 못하면서 이번 회계연도 1분기에 8,133GWh 이상의 태양광 발전이 출력 제한됐으며, 새로운 규정은 증가하는 출력 제한과 계통 안정성 문제를 해결하기 위한 것이다.