Singapore. Photo by Freya Kerwin, MMTA
17-19 April 2024, Singapore
MMTA MD Freya Kerwin with conference delegates
In 2024, the MMTA International Minor Metals Conference moved away from Europe and North America of recent years and headed to Singapore. Taking the main annual conference to Asia, after two successful smaller events in Hong Kong in 2018 and 2019, proved a wise choice, bringing together 280 delegates in the beating heart of Trans-Pacific trade.
This year’s event gave the Association the opportunity to gather insights into how the minor metals industry and markets are developing in China and other parts of Asia, ex-change knowledge and to promote international co-operation and trade in metals and raw materials that are key to emerging technologies, not least energy transition.
Day 1 , Monday 17th April
Delegates who took part in the sell-out Golf Tournament kindly sponsored by ICD Group in the lush grounds of the Seletar Country Club, and those who joined the event later, mingled over drinks at the poolside reception sponsored by CCMA LLC on a perfect evening before a busy day.
Day 2 , Tuesday 18th April
Fuelled by much-needed barista coffee (thank you Exotech Inc!), the MMTA AGM kicked off at 9am, going over the Association’s busy year, welcoming new members and voting in the new treasurer and several directors to the MMTA board.
Having marked its 50th anniversary in 2023, and looking to the years ahead, this is where the MMTA unveiled its new logo, building on its heritage and looking forward to a future in a growing global trade where many to the around 50 elements we call minor metals have become critical to the technologies that enable the modern world.
Rested and refuelled by Exotech-sponsored coffee, conference sessions began after the break with an introduction by Rachel Carnac, joint MD of Metal Events, followed by a warm welcome by the MMTA chairman Stephen Hall.
Josh Hogue, Sourcing Manager, GE Vernova, kicked off the session with a keynote discussing the exciting future for minor metals in electrification.
“By delivering reliable electricity, we will grow global prosperity,” he said, as he predicted there will be continued dependence on industrial gas turbines (IGTs) to provide electricity, with IGT’s moving on to using hydrogen and other non-fossil fuels. Replacing coal with gas power promises to halveCO2 emissions.
But, the conversion to hydrogen is not all smooth sailing as it has 1/3 the density of gas, and turbines will need upgrades to combust hydrogen, Hogue noted
IGT’s are a major user of high temperature metals, from molybdenum and tungsten in the turbine blades to hafnium in the nozzles.
But while a lot of funds and research are going into recycling these metals, there is a challenge in maintaining metal purity for such critical applications.
Stephen Mottram, chief financial officer at Australian Strategic Materials, reported on an extremely busy and eventful year. ASM, recently received a US$600m letter of interest from US EXIM for the execution and construction of its Dubbo polymetallic project, designed to become the upstream part of a new sustainable supply chain for rare earths, zirconium, niobium and hafnium. ASM, which recently awarded the front-end engineering and design services contract to US-owned Bechtel, also received a US$9m LoI from US EXIMfor an engineering multiplier program (EMP) that promises to boost US-Australian trade.
The company will be focusing this year on finalising EXIM financing, by finding strategic partners and securing an off-take agreement, and completing the FEED contract, with a view to taking the final funding decision on the project in the first half of 2026. ASM aims ot complete construction and commission Dubbo in 2028. In the meantime the company is focusing on having the neo-dymium-iron-boron magnetic alloy produced by its Korean Metal Plant certified by customers, including in Europe and South Korea.
Next up, Lijue Wu, Founder & President, Ximei Resources Group, provided the company’s take on the tantalum and niobium markets. The company is estimated to account for some 40% of China’s tantalum imports. While China is reliant on import of both tantalum and niobium raw materials, it has a full production chain, and most of its output is consumed domestically, with exports partly discouraged by high tariffs on niobium exports. Long-term contracts are challenging for both sourcing and recycling of tantalum and niobium units, he said.
Mr Liuje, who is also Vice Chairman of Tantalum-Niobium Branch of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA) forecasts a stability in the tantalum market in next 10 years, with limited growth. However, rising demand from semiconductors is looking promising for niobium, he said.
After the luncheon, kindly sponsored by Titan International, the afternoon was devoted to a panel discussion on Minor metals in the 2020s – innovation, geopolitics and supply chain issues .
While the western word is keen to develop its own supply chain, building refineries and processing facilities, the panel acknowledged the need to work with and alongside China as a major player in the minor metals industry and not continue a political rift between China and the West.
Panellists discussed the imposing tariffs (US) and negative sentiments towards China that are serving to hurt the inter-dependent metals industry.
The diverse and international panel recognised the pragmatic need to balance government interventions and policies with business and markets.
There was some frustration with what was seen as continual lack of understanding by governments that imposing tariff barriers is counterproductive and does not ensure a long-term plan for supporting the metals industry and the businesses that spearhead it.
The evening of networking kicked off with a drinks reception sponsored by Advanced Alloy Services Ltd, followed by the new and popular highlight of this year’s event, the Gala Dinner.
Sponsored by ICD Group and the MMTA’s Singapore-based member Donald McArthy Trading PTE Ltd, this was a welcome opportunity to sample the Singaporean cuisine.
Day 3, Wednesday 19th April
After coffee, minor metals analyst Li Chengchen of Beijing Antaike launched the morning session with a focus on two interdependent metals , selenium and tellurium.
With 70% of the global supply of selenium generated a by-product of copper, a 750,000t or % projected in crease in copper production in 2024 is projected to bring with it an increase in by-product selenium supply from an estimated 3, 941 t last year. China accounts for around 45% of global selenium supply and most of its current growth. Antaike expects China’s selenium production to exceed 1,800t in 2024.
Meanwhile China’s selenium consumption fundamentally changed in the first couple of years of this decade, with a decline in traditional applications such as manganese refining, glass and ceramics and a sudden rise in consumption in agriculture and animal feed. While last year saw some recovery in metallurgical demand, Li said, other than high-tech demand in electronics, infrared, and photovoltaics, selenium demand mostly declined.
By contrast, tellurium demand has been steadily dominated in recent years by cadmium telluride for solar applications. A nascent industry in the 2010s it has matured in the 2020a the market is now at a turning point were demand is set to out-pace supply, Li said. For China, this is primarily an export market, and Antaike expects domestic inventories to fall, widening the supply gap in the next two years.
Markus Roas, Business Unit Manager, Metals, at Indium Corp shared the company’s overview of indium, projecting a com-pound annual growth in demand around 3% between now an 2030, driven by optics and telecommunications, with sta-ble demand for Indium Oxide (ITO) used in TV displays.
Over time technological development has shifted from Japan to South Korea to China. Trade wars with China, including tariff barriers, could disrupt this market. The unknown factor in the demand/supply picture for indium is stockpiling in China, with USGS estimates, on which much of the western world relies, below projections in China. Another unknown is the amount of revert scrap entering the system.
After two years of steady flow, China’s gallium export dropped sharply last year between August and November, reflecting delays around the introduction of export licences for the metal, Mandy Yin, Sales Deputy General Manager, Zhuzhou Keneng New Material Co, told delegates. This also caused a price spike, after volatility in previous two years due to growth in demand for magnetic materials and logistical supply disruptions. Demand for the metal in magnetic mate-rials accounts for 40% of gallium’s market in China, just be-hind compound semiconductors that make up 44%. Yin expects China’s gallium production to rise by 125t next year, allowing for uncertainty over its by-product recovery rates.
After the coffee break, Nils Backeberg, founding partner of critical materials consultancy Project Blue started off the transport session with a presentation on minor metals in aerospace. As passenger traffic is starting to rise towards pre-pandemic levels, engine and aircraft manufacturers are looking to reduce corresponding rise in carbon emissions. The prospects for metals in aviation depend on how they go about it — changing the mechanics of propulsion or changing the fuel? Pratt & Whitney is planning to test a hybrid electric engine — option that could promise growth for battery metals such as nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium. However Boeing is wary of batteries increasing weight, and sees the way to decarbonisation in sustainable aviation fuels, a win for traditional jet engines. But a launch by leading battery maker CATL of a 500 Wh/kg battery can change the market dynamics for air travel electrification.
Staying on battery metals, Adam Webb of Benchmark Minerals forecast an 18% CAGR for cobalt demand to 2030, driven by electric vehicles. Despite current prevalence of lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries, Benchmark projects higher demand from nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) cathodes. Superalloy and hard metal demand for cobalt is also set to rise by 20% to 2030, making up more than a third of non-battery demand for the metal. But the share of cobalt converted into sulphate for batteries within its consumption is set to rise from already 54% today to 79% by 2030.
Supply is rising at a slower rate (by projected 11% this year), boosted by mines from the Democratic Republic of Congo. A pledge by European countries to invest in Lobito corridor that will link DRC’s copper and cobalt capital Kolwezi with main ports in neighbouring African countries, promises to increase the flow of Congolese cobalt to the European market.
Gardens by the Bay, Singapore
But rounding off the conference, Dr. Gangfeng Liu, chief technical officer of Botree Recycling Technologies focused not on primary mining but sustainable, waste-free sources of battery metals — recycling.
As well as stationary dismantling and hydro process equipment that offers a metal recovery rate in excess of 98.5% from an NMC battery, with the three metals recovered simultaneously and 90-95% for LFP, Bottree’s technology includes the world’s first mobile battery shredder. In comprise sealed units inside which a battery can be shredded without discharge and without oxygen.
As primary sources of battery metals struggle to meet the demands of electrification, recycling is no longer an optional but a key part of solving the critical raw materials equation.
The MMTA would like to thank our partner Metal Events, delegates and sponsors. We look forward to seeing you at the MMTA’s International Minor Metals Conference 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal, on 7-9 May 2025.
