The Philippines is aiming to add three more processing plants to its domestic nickel industry, as it seeks to emulate the success of neighbouring Indonesia in downstreaming its nickel resources. The Philippine government is hoping to attract foreign investment to value-add the country’s domestic nickel industry, developing it from a purely extractive sector to one […]
> StarPlus Energy, a joint venture between Stellantis and Samsung SDI, has received a conditional loan of $7.54 billion from the US Department of Energy (DoE) to help finance the development of two gigafactories in Indiana. The investment supports a trend of South Korean battery players driving US battery production. “Despite a global slowdown in battery […]
> Indonesia’s nickel smelters are paying an increasingly steep premium to secure nickel ore, as a domestic supply crunch squeezes the industry’s margins. Benchmark notes the premium for some grades, based on data from Mysteel, is approaching 100% over the government’s benchmark price, known as the Harga Patokan Mineral (HPM). This supply tightness is driven by […]
> Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, specialising in battery supply chain research and insights, reports that 12.7GWh of new operational capacity entered operation in October 2025. Operational Capacity The grid-scale BESS market saw 12.7GWh of new capacity enter operations globally in October 2025, a y-o-y increase of 29%. China led new operational capacity with just under 8.8GWh of […]
> South Korea’s battery industry is one of the most developed and globally integrated ecosystems in the world. Yet beneath the surface of its technical leadership lies a sense of caution: competition from China is intensifying, margins are thin, and chemistry choices are shifting rapidly. A recent visit by Benchmark’s Lithium Product Director, Cameron Perks – […]
> China has postponed the implementation of its expanded rare earth export controls announced in early October following high-level US-China trade negotiations in South Korea this week. It marks a temporary easing in what had become an escalating front in the tit-for-tat US–China trade confrontation. The announcement follows extensive economic and trade consultations in Kuala Lumpur, […]
> As the dust settles on LME Week in London, Benchmark reviews some of the key themes that shaped discussions throughout the week and gauges sentiment across metal markets heading towards year end. Across the board, discussions reflected metal markets navigating shifting trade policy, supply-side disruption, and uneven demand recovery. Copper: Arbitrage and disruption dominate discussion […]
> Indonesia’s recently inagurated president Prabowo Subianto witnessed the signing of a $1.4 billion high pressure acid leach (HPAL) agreement between PT Vale Indonesia and China’s GEM in Beijing last week, an early success for the new president’s ambition to continue the ‘downstreaming’ policy that defined predecessor Joko Widodo’s tenure in office. Under the terms of […]
> A diplomatic visit to the Philippines by US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose Fernandez signals growing US interest in the country as a potential source of non-Chinese battery nickel. The Philippines produced 11% of the world’s mined nickel in 2023, according to Benchmark’s Nickel Forecast, making it the […]