— Gold futures are flat at $1,967.50 a troy ounce
— LME three-month copper futures are up 0.5% at $8,533 a metric ton
TOP STORY:
Albemarle Raises Bid for Australia’s Liontown Resources to $4.25 Billion
Albemarle is closing in on one of the biggest-ever lithium deals after making a new offer for Australia’s Liontown Resources that values it at $4.25 billion, illustrating how the energy transition is transforming the fortunes of an industry that supplies a key metal used in batteries.
Albemarle said its new proposal for Liontown–worth 3 Australian dollars in cash per share, equivalent to $1.92–is its best and final offer after several earlier approaches to acquire the company were rejected as too low. In response, Liontown said it would allow the U.S. company to scrutinize its books exclusively for a limited time.
“The intention of the Liontown board is to unanimously recommend shareholders vote in favor of the proposal,” assuming no competing bid emerges, Liontown said on Monday.
Lithium has become of the hottest commodities in global mining as governments push to electrify their economies. The silvery white metal is used in electric vehicles, smartphones and other applications. Global automakers are among those rushing to lock in deals with miners including Albemarle that can future proof their supply chains.
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OTHER STORIES:
Electric Cars Power China’s Economic Hopes as Internet Titans Take a Back Seat
China’s internet giants drove much of the country’s tech economy over the past decade. Now, electric-vehicle and battery makers are taking over the driver’s seat.
The country’s booming new industry flag-bearers are attracting sovereign-wealth funds, foreign partners and the brightest engineers. Riding the wave of Beijing’s industrial policy gambit on clean-energy cars, they are defying the gloomy picture in much of China’s economy and increasingly going global.
China’s EV-related startups, including battery makers, pulled in $15.2 billion in venture capital last year, a record for the sector even as total venture capital financing in the country fell to its lowest since 2019, data from investment researcher Preqin shows. Vehicle and battery exports have been rising, while car buyers are critical to cushioning the country’s sagging consumer economy.
Automakers have bagged funding from German car manufacturer Volkswagen and Intel, and many are rapidly expanding. BYD, China’s top-selling EV maker backed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, boosted head count by over 50% to more than 630,000 in the 12 months to June.
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Warren Buffett’s Green Cash Washes Over Coal Country
No state is more reliant on coal for electricity than West Virginia. Yet a clean-energy industrial project rising on the banks of the Ohio River is challenging coal’s stranglehold on the Mountain State.
Behind the project: Warren Buffett and state Republican lawmakers. It’s a surprising base of support in a region where political power and wealth has long derived from coal mining.
Two of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway companies are teaming up to build a manufacturing hub that will include a $500 million factory to produce titanium for aircraft parts. It will be powered by solar panels and rechargeable batteries. The Buffett name and the promise of 300 jobs helped the companies overcome resistance in a state where coal provides more than 90% of the electricity.
West Virginia has in the past year approved some $400 million in funds for three renewable-energy projects, including Berkshire’s. The Republican-led legislature, eager to create jobs, has passed new legislation that benefits renewable energy.
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MARKET TALKS:
Metals Mixed Amid China Demand Uncertainty
1201 GMT – Metal prices are mixed, with investors cautious over uncertain demand from China. Three-month copper is up 0.5% to $8,533 a metric ton while aluminum is 1.4% lower at $2,205 a ton. Gold, meanwhile, is flat at $1,966.40 a troy ounce. Buying interest in China on Monday is waning following a rise in prices last week, Marex’s Al Munro says in a note. However, overall, “China sentiment is turning more positive following recent government measures,” he says, adding that investors could find value in buying in the near term ahead of Chinese holidays later this month. ([email protected])
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Palm Oil Falls, Tracking Soybean Oil’s Losses
1007 GMT – Palm oil prices closed lower, tracking soybean oil’s losses on the Dalian Commodity Exchange. The two vegetable oils often trade in tandem as they are used in similar products. However, analysts at Guofu Futures warned that the unusually dry weather in August took a toll on crops in Asia as the El Niño climate pattern intensified, while forecasts of less rain in September could further dent palm oil supply, they said in a research note. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for November delivery is MYR55 lower at MYR3,985 a ton. ([email protected])
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Oil Pauses With Saudi Supply Plans Awaited
0743 GMT – Oil prices hold steady at a nine-month high thanks to OPEC+ supply cuts and hopes that the Fed is done with raising interest rates. Brent crude oil was unchanged at $88.54 a barrel, while WTI was flat at $85.57 a barrel. Both benchmarks have risen to their highest level since November in recent days. U.S. investors are absent Monday due to the Labor Day holiday, something which could sap liquidity from the oil market. Saudi Arabia is set to decide this week whether to unwind or roll over its 1 million barrel-a-day output cuts, with most analysts expecting them to continue the cut for at least another month. Riyadh “will not want to put any renewed downward pressure on the oil market” by reversing the cuts, ING says in a note. ([email protected])
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Iron-Ore Futures Rise on China’s Property Stimulus Measures
0302 GMT – Iron ore prices are higher in early Asian trade amid China’s latest stimulus measures to aid the troubled property sector. “With the implementation of various economic and real estate policies, we believe that the property sector will survive the most difficult time, and the demand for steel in real estate will gradually stabilize and rise,” analysts at Huatai Futures say in a research note. Meanwhile, China’s better-than-expected August manufacturing data is helping sentiment in the iron ore market, ANZ analysts say in a note. The most-traded iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange is up 1.3% at CNY916.0 a ton. ([email protected])
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