Rainbow Rare Earths Phalaborwa project shaping up to be one of the lowest cost producers globally. Watch the video here.
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The negotiations between China and Ecuador on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) have proceeded smoothly, Mao Ning, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said on Wednesday during a press conference.
The response came after the ministry was asked if it could confirm that the two countries may sign an FTA.
With the deal, Ecuador's exports will get preferential access to China, and the South American country's manufacturers will be able to acquire machinery and other products at a lower cost.
The agreement will allow preferential access for 99 percent of Ecuador's exports to China, especially agricultural products such as shrimps, bananas, roses and flowers, cocoa and coffee, Ecuador's production ministry said in a statement.
Jiang Shixue, professor at the Center for Latin American Studies at Shanghai University, said that the deal gives full play to the economic complementarities of both countries.
"It will help Ecuador's agricultural products get easier access to the massive Chinese market," Jiang told the Global Times on Wednesday.
For China, Ecuador offers an opportunity to diversify sources of strategic minerals, such as copper and iron ore, Jiang said. "It is expected that more Chinese companies will expand investment in Ecuador following the agreement," Jiang said.
China and Ecuador began negotiations in February 2022, according to Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). Bilateral trade rose by 44.5 percent to reach $10.95 billion in 2021 and China remained the second-largest trading partner for Ecuador.
Ecuador is an important partner of China in investment and trade in Latin America. Their cooperation covers a wide range of areas, including electricity, energy, mining and transportation.
The FTA deal would also have a spillover effect to deepen cooperation between China and other Latin American countries, Jiang said.
The conclusion of the China-Ecuador free trade negotiations comes as the latest FTA deal between China and a Latin American country.
China previously signed free trade agreements with Chile, Costa Rica and Peru.
In October 2006, the China-Chile FTA came into effect, the first free trade agreement signed between China and a Latin American country. Subsequently, the China-Peru FTA entered into force in March 2010, and the China-Costa Rica FTA went into effect in August 2011.
Since the agreements took effect, the three countries have seen their annual exports to China grow by double-digits, according to the MOFCOM.
The Article is dated today..
Let’s hope this paragraph is relevant..
For China, Ecuador offers an opportunity to diversify sources of strategic minerals, such as copper and iron ore, Jiang said. "It is expected that more Chinese companies will expand investment in Ecuador following the agreement," Jiang said.
Clearly china sees an opportunity up for grabs while the west dithers.
Good informative posts, China is getting more of a solid foot in Ecuador and is getting all set up for a very long term partnership, wish them both a fruitful trade deal.
Atb
https://www.voanews.com/a/china-ecuador-set-to-sign-free-trade-agreement-/6903725.html
Well the FTA will hopefully be good for us but I fear that Ecuador are putting a long term noose around their necks hey ho we’ll all be long gone and slightly richer by then !!!
Might just be my positive outlook of late for SOLG but surely I can't be the only one that sees recent 'chinese/ecuador' news along with a bucket load of red tape being cut up as a little coincidental with SOLG entering the potential 'sale' phase. Let's be quite clear here, the current producing mines in Ecuador are delivering 'not very much' for lasso et al. The only asset in Ecuador right now that could transform the mining industry several times over is of course ... SOLG's Alpala.
Last May/June BHP met up with Lasso for a cosy chat. A month to two later, BHP decide they would go for Oz Minerals. A month after that, SOLG suddenly adopted a fast and smart approach and got the chinese involved. Just a hunch... but I think even Lasso might be tired of BHP's games and with a little guidance from his business partners (inc Maxit et al) Ecuador appears ready to see the Chinese take the mining industry forward... with speed one would presume.
When you read between the lines, it does look like Lasso has decided which way he wants to go. That might not work out well for us if other interested parties know that the chinese have the highest senior Ecuadorian backing.
Pro's and con's with this but if I were BHP and genuinely interested in taking Alpala forwards, I'd be pretty worried now. It's slipping away from them faster than even they thought possible. The advancements (politically and via SOLG's Oct merger news) has been breath-taking. Fast and smart indeed!
I guess the question is... will the chinese be paying fair price or will Lasso be happy with them gaining a discount in return for more rapid progress??
The big boys are in the mix now.
Completely agrees Fort, however the first copper play Mike Henry referenced in a November interview I recall was SOLG when asked about their pivot in mining strategy and that was after big bad Bob publicly winding them up so there must be some interest still. They've come this far and although I think there are higher powers pulling the levers here now, BHP must now be thinking about their options once the Chinese bid lands. Thought it was strange of WI to say we were at stage 2.9 of a 3 stage process a few weeks ago on Twitter, but he's on the inside of this and it's starting to make sense. Not long now... added another 100k on Tuesday for the third final time :-)
Soon. All the very best for 23 all. C
The chinese are fast becoming Lasso's best friends. Personally speaking, I think Lasso would be wise to keep 'competitive' bidding alive and well as it's the one thing that will keep the chinese grounded and paying fair price rather than getting everything on cheap.
BHP might not get a look in at all if Lasso has already 'leveraged' Alpala in some deal or another. Remember.... SOLG are just the licence holder and Ecuador own Alpala and it's their say so / red tape that will either sanction development or make the operators life a misery. We are just shareholders and many of us won't be here in 20 years time but Ecuador's mining future and future partners will be so important to understand the bigger picture here. I guess it comes down to... does Lasso want international mining companies like BHP, Anglo and others or does he want a heavily weighted chinese cartel with sprinkles of minor international company interest or both and is the latter possible??
Good posts Fort. I do also wonder whether politically this is quite a savvy move for Lasso with an eye on re-election. The thinking behind that being as he is someone who is right/centre-right in Ecuador, the expectation is that this generally leads to closer ties with the US (or 'the West'). Through signing this trade deal with the Chinese, he takes away some of the political ammunition from his opponents on the left, and opens the door for serious state-sponsored investment from the East.
That might be a very blunt analysis as my knowledge of Ecuadorian politics is hardly a strong suit. If any of our posters on the ground have any further insight I'm all ears.
Autobots lovin the trading today ....
At end of the day, it's win win for the US and the globe as a whole if we see more mines like Alpala fast tracked into production. There is a massive copper shortage around the corner and the electrification of cars in particular is going to be held up through lack of supplies not unlike the chip manufacturers of today post covid. The US has been over protective of it's own car industry and gas guzzlers to care too much but by lowering gas demand/oil etc in future they will be removing a lot of money from Putin and Middle East.... hence you'd think they would be keen to get motoring with copper supplies. South America is a bit of a hot bed at the moment so if Ecuador were to emerge as global mine / resources exporter then it might help the US put the likes of Chile and Peru back in their box. Lots of pros and cons. The next few years should see massive infrastructure spend as per Biden's trillion dollar bill and Chinese promises to build their way out of economic gloom. All points to the likes of Alpala/ENSA being in high demand. But this sad old casino stock market is more keen on playing with invented resources like Bitcoin et al. In this new world it's far easier to imitate and replicate the original than try and discover it. A Fake world in every way with people paying £1000's for branded t-shirt that is made form same cotton as a £2 t-shirt or examples of paying £177m (per YEAR) for a geriatric footballer!! Hard to make sense of it these days.
Bubble2021 is it the auto bots or the deceptions?
Colonel. See the tweet by Willem Middelkoop.
Morning all President Lasso was also at the Whitehouse in December
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/12/19/readout-of-president-bidens-meeting-with-president-guillermo-lasso-of-ecuador/
Pinot
:0)
@Jerry, which tweet?
https://twitter.com/wmiddelkoop/status/1610716049070239744?s=46&t=GYWVkFEGbg04FULkmTPCNw
E.T,never know my friend
Thank you!
Heck, we seem to be glued to 16p! Hope the 9th sorts this to the up-side!
Yep hope so Eish
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3922288-copper-bounces-as-chinese-stimulus-plans-lift-demand-hopes?mailingid=30160760&messageid=2900&serial=30160760.1838&utm_campaign=rta-stock-news&utm_content=link-1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=seeking_alpha&utm_term=30160760.1838
https://www.kitco.com/news/2023-01-03/Copper-could-reach-10-as-markets-gears-up-for-commodity-supercycle-Gianni-Kovacevic.html
https://thediplomat.com/2023/01/ecuador-and-china-conclude-free-trade-agreement-negotiations/
Merger confirmed Monday. First bid RNS Friday.
Happy new year one and all.
Utter rubbish! You only have to look at trading volumes to see these nonsensical comments
purely NOT TRUE.
I pity the fools that recommend this cr@p, maybe they have a agenda too!