Member Info for pb940

Bit early for the weekend shift aren't you fizzy?

I think we can safely assume September was substandard in terms of production due to the strike which wasn't resolved until the 21st

I think the potential in SA should hopefully turn to fact once the Eskom report is published soon as something or everything is holding up news with respect to Bushveld Energy.

I remember a response from Mikhail a couple of years ago when I was querying the announcement of news with regards to the battery installations. In his response he said 'we' (Bushveld) can only report when the other parties are ready and I think we are at that point again where it's all ready to go but the other parties involved aren't. Unfortunately I think coordinating all the different parties is causing delays this time.

Also in the same news article

China to charge past US as energy storage champion

China will overtake South Korea and the US to become the world’s largest energy storage market within four years as state-owned utilities continue to integrate renewables into their energy mix – by 2040 it will account for 23% global capacity, according to Bloomberg NEF.

Bloomberg NEF 2018 long-term energy storage outlook forecasts global energy storage will expand to 943GW in 2040 from 10GW in 2018, attracting $620bn over the period.

Falling battery prices will result in wind turbines and solar panels selling power even when energy isn’t generated, while EVs will plug in for fast-charging at road-side batteries.

In the near-term, utilities such as State Grid Corp. and China Southern Power Grid Co. will drive demand as they integrate clean energy into their mix.

China will account for 214GW of energy storage capacity by 2040, 23% of the total, compared with 146GW in the U.S. The Asian nation will be overtaking South Korea and the United States in cumulative energy storage capacity by 2022 and 2023.

A distinct shift in sources of demand is expected to see utilities targeting renewable energy integration (energy shifting) and the provision of capacity to meet system’s peak (peaking capacity).

Energy storage saw explosive growth in China in 2018, led by state utilities. China has 22% share of global energy storage projects (announced, commissioned or under construction) approaching that of the U.S. at 25%, including the pipeline for 2019 and 2020.

State Grid and China Southern Power, China’s two monopolistic power network operators, account for 43% of China’s total commissioned deployments, with 805MW of projects announced or under construction.

China’s key challenge focuses on the integration of existing renewable energy generation into a reliable and cheap system. In 2019, the government want to implement peak shifting nationwide, encouraging thermal power plants to lower output to allow more renewable energy dispatch.

https://www.v o x m a r k e t s.co.uk/articles/broker-research-385d1c3

Vanadium prices rise again as China continues crackdown on sub-standard steel rebar producers

Ferro-vanadium prices have picked up 0.8% to $77-78.75/kgV for 78% material in Western Europe (Fastmarkets MB).

Prices in China have risen similarly to 0.7% to $70-72/kgV for the same grade (Fastmarkets MB).

We expect the Chinese authorities to determinedly crackdown on non-compliance for strengthening steel rebar.

The effect should be for steel producers to move to buy more vanadium in, what looks like, a relatively tight market environment.

Chinese rebar prices hit a 12-month high last week but have since settled back at $545-551/t.

Producers are closing production ahead of the Chinese New Year which starts on 4th February and marks the largest annual migration since the David Attenborough covered the wildebeest migration across the Serengeti plains of Tanzania.

So i suppose you could copy and paste then remove the blank. Bit of a pain but easier than typing thebushveldperspective each time

Will a space leave the address in full just requiring the blank removing. Lets see.

https://ww w.thebushveldperspective.com/

Thankfully pdub nothing the disruptive individuals can say will make a blind bit of difference to the product being produced at Vametco. We'll just have to wait and see who has the last laugh . Unfortunately there future return on investment horizon is the end of the week, maybe at a stretch the end of a month whereas mine is in two+ years time.

Much appreciated as always Alfa.

Continued . . . .

The bank recently published a discussion paper on the potential for a “materialisation” of SoC contingent liabilities and the effect a potential shock could have on fiscal policy.

The scenarios outlined in the paper indicate that debt as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) could increase by between 1.2% and 2.1% of GDP within three years, compared to the baseline projection. In other words, in the event of a contingent-liability shock, South Africa’s debt-to-GDP ratio could reach between 57.1% and 58% in 2020 compared with the baseline projection of 56%.

“Although the increase of the debt-to-GDP ratio is not large according to the two scenarios of contingent liabilities, what is most concerning is that the debt level as a share of GDP has a tendency of growing further and will be harder to stabilise, compared to the baseline projection where debt stabilises,” the discussion paper states.

It adds that the losses incurred from the contingent liabilities may also become significant driving factors of debt accumulation in medium term.

The paper diverges, however, from the contingent-liability shock scenario simulated in the July 2017 Article IV, published by the International Monetary Fund. In that assessment, the size of the contingent-liability shock is imposed as R610.4-billion, or 12.3% of GDP, in a single year.

The World Bank argues that such a shock is not realistic, as it assumes that SoCs will go bankrupt and creditors will accelerate all liabilities. Instead, the bank assumes that government will step in to undertake periodic debt-service payments if entities are in distress, rather than allowing entities to fail.

Nevertheless, Noumba Um argued that a comprehensive approach should be adopted for all the SoC contingent liabilities, including Eskom, which makes up more than 70% of current contingent liabilities.

He expressed optimism that government would adopt a broad-based reform agenda. “I think that the debate that is taking place now is really going in the right direction, because all the considerations are being looked into.”

http://www.miningweekly.com/article/world-bank-says-eskom-debt-restructuring-should-be-coupled-to-power-market-reform-2019-01-23

World Bank country director Paul Noumba Um believes the South African government is moving in the “right direction” by pursuing discussions on possible debt relief for Eskom in conjunction with plans for restructuring the utility and overhauling the architecture of the domestic power market.

He also argues, however, that Eskom’s restructuring should form part of a broader reform agenda for all State-owned companies (SoCs), which were no longer delivering returns and had, instead, become liabilities.

The bank has a direct interest in the fortunes of Eskom having advanced a $3.75-billion loan to Eskom in 2010 to help fund the Medupi coal-fired power station project in Limpopo, as well as several other projects.

Describing Eskom as “too big to fail”, Noumba Um argued this week the way forward would require “different kinds of interventions”, including efficiency improvements at the utility, which may involve retrenchments, as well as power-market reform.

“Having Eskom as an integrated, dominant provider of power . . . has been an asset for South Africa.

“But if you want it to remain an asset for South Africa going forward, you also need to pay attention to the transition to clean energy, which is happening at the same time.

“So, reorganising that market is critically important and making sure that each part of that market plays its role is also critically important.”

The bank’s remarks came amid confirmation that the Eskom Sustainability Task Team, appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in December, had delivered a briefing at the recent African National Congress (ANC) lekgotla.

Business Day reports that the task team outlined a proposal for splitting Eskom into three State-owned companies for generation, transmission and distribution.

The proposal reportedly received a mixed response and, in its post-lekgotla statement, the ANC said government had been requested to “consult with all stakeholders, particularly with trade unions, within the coming three weeks, on these recommendations and other proposals”.

No mention was made in the statement of the debt restructuring options, including reports that the National Treasury would consider transferring to the fiscus about R100-billion-worth of Eskom debt already guaranteed by government.

Noumba Um suggested that any debt restructuring would have to be assessed in light of the guarantees extended by government to Eskom, which meant, “if Eskom cannot pay, government will have to pay”.

Continued . . .

Fastmarkets’ price assessment for ferro-vanadium, min 78%, fob China, climbed by 176% from early 2018 to a historical high at $130-140 per kg on October 18, 2018, before plunging by 48.7% to $68.50-70 per kg on December 27, the final assessment in 2018, according to Fastmarkets data.

https://www.vanadiumprice.com/global-vanadium-wrap-chinese-fev-export-offers-edge-up-on-thin-supplies-european-market-sees-limited-activity/

Date: Jan 23, 2019

Chinese vanadium exporters raised their offer prices again this past week against a back drop of tightening supply, while European ferro-vanadium prices narrowed amid a slowdown in spot activity.

Chinese FeV export offers rise on thin supplies
European FeV market narrows on spot market slowdown
European vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) market flat on inactivity
US FeV prices slide further in line with global market
Chinese ferro-vanadium export prices ticked up for the second consecutive week in the pricing week ended Friday January 18 amid limited availability of the material in the country’s domestic market.

Fastmarkets’ price assessment for ferro-vanadium, 78% min, fob China, stood at $70-72 per kg on January 17, up by 0.7% from $69-72 per kg in the previous week.

Several ferro-vanadium export deals were reportedly concluded at the price range of $70-72 per kg in the pricing week despite the fact that the volume for each deal was no more than 10 tonnes.

Many Chinese ferro-vanadium exporters refrained from offering last week because of the lack of readily available spot cargoes on hand.

“We will not be able to offer [ferro-vanadium] in the export market prior to Chinese New Year [February 4] as the volume we have needs to be provided to steel mills based on contacts signed before and we do not have extra material for exports right now. What’s worse, currently it’s really hard to source the raw material,” a Chinese ferro-vanadium exporter said.

Foreign buyers, on the other hand, were reported to be quite unwilling to accept the higher offer prices.

“We did not buy any volume [of ferro-vanadium] from China [last week] as the offer prices are a bit high for us,” a trader said.

“We failed to conclude a deal this week as we offered at around $74 per kg but it seems that no buyer is willing to place orders at the price,” a second Chinese ferro-vanadium exporter said on January 17.

In addition to buyers’ reluctance to accept the higher prices, a comparatively stable domestic market failed to provide momentum for the country’s ferro-vanadium export prices to climb significantly in the past week.

China’s domestic ferro-vanadium prices were relatively stable despite having showed signs of strengthening recently, one market source said.

“The market sentiment is much better but the domestic [ferro-vanadium] price did not see an evident increase. I suppose this is because mills were still unable to accept higher prices especially when their profit margins have been largely squeezed since the last quarter of 2018,” a market participant said.

“This might also because market participants are becoming more cautious after experiencing the sharp price change seen in 2018. And I do not think China’s ferro-vanadium prices will leap before Chinese New Year,” he added.

A producer in North China quotes vanadium pentoxide flake 98%min at RMB230,000/t (USD15.64/lb V) EXW D/A 180 days, up by RMB10,000/t (USD0.68/lb V) from last week. “I learnt some producer still quote at RMB210,000/t (USD14.28/lb V) but they have no stock. We can deliver to our buyer immediately if the order is less than 30t,” said the source. Their last deal was made early last week, when they sold 30t at RMB220,000/t (USD14.96/lb V). He believes prices would be firm before the Spring Festival.

Every bloody time I forget it doesnt like this web address :)

https://www.v o x m a r k e t s.co.uk/articles/broker-research-e9f2619

This is how you get people to follow the rules.

**************************************/articles/broker-research-e9f2619

China is planning to punish officials who do not meet goals to reduce air pollution.
“For those who failed to meet the targets, we will hold them accountable publicly and local governments will need to come out with detailed punishment measures,” according to Liu Bingjiang, at the Ministry for Environment.

Looks like fatbanker cant resist at these prices :)

Maybe they've got close to the end of the selling and are just trying to get it finished asap

I suppose it adds excitement to getting a battery alfacomp not knowing if they'll explode and/or burst into flames.

Do suppose you know if they replaced it with the same battery type alfa or something safer, like, oh I don't know a vrfb maybe?

continued . . . properly this time :)

New possibilities
One of the latest advances is to use another rare metal, vanadium. Vanadium flow batteries are large static batteries that last for decades and can be charged and discharged completely thousands of times. They are not portable, but last for years without deterioration and are increasingly being deployed by national grids to boost supply during peak demand. A Canadian company, CellCube, has just sold a large battery plant to France.

This has been hailed as one of the most promising technologies in energy storage, but there are many other possibilities under development including high-energy magnesium batteries and lithium-air batteries, which are an advance on the current lithium-ion versions used in electric cars and for grid storage.

There are also new types of chemical batteries under trial as large-scale static installations which allow the grid to pump out more power at peak times.

The key battle for all these technologies is beating rivals on price. This means not just other battery types, but other options under development for storing energy. Surplus energy from renewables is also being used to produce hydrogen, while the surplus from solar power is often stored as heat.

In the first few years of this century the generally-held belief that there was no way to store electricity has been disproved. The battery boom means it is now just a question of finding the easiest and most economic way of doing it, and in doing so making a giant step towards a carbon-free future.