Page 15 - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine May 2024

bne May 2024 Companies & Markets I 15
US investor to build $1bn magnesium mining complex
in Romania
bne IntelliNews
Verde Magnesium, backed by Amerocap investment fund, plans to invest $1bn in Romania within eight to ten years to develop a magnesium mine and a processing plant that would use the magnesium to recycle aluminium and produce aluminium alloys.
The company is poised to be the EU's leading producer of metallic magnesium, offering Europe an alternative domestic supply for its demand, which is currently 100% imported, mainly from China. The metal is in high demand to produce lightweight aluminium alloys that are used in cars and packaging, among other applications.
The company was issued the permit to reopen a closed magne- sium mine located in western Romania, near Oradea, on April 15.
The investor plans to start magnesium production in Romania within four to five years and estimates an annual production capacity of some 90,000 tonnes afterwards.
The magnesium mine is located in western Romania, near the city of Oradea (pictured).
The exploitation works will last up to five years, and in parallel, work will also be carried put for the development of the magnesium metal production unit, said Verde Magnesium CEO Alexandru Rosu.
The last two European mines producing magnesium, one in Norway and the other in France, were closed in 2001, one of the reasons being competition from cheap imports from China.
Currently more than 90% of the EU's magnesium is imported from China, making the 27-country bloc vulnerable to disruptions in Chinese production such as that seen in 2022 as a result of high energy prices.
Depending on the development of the production capacity, the project is presented as creating up to 1,000 direct jobs and up to 10,000 indirect jobs.
Smarter US sanctions seen driving down
Turkey-Russia trade
bne IntelliNews
Turkey’s exports to Russia fell 33.7% y/y in the first quarter, according to preliminary Turkish trade ministry data, with smarter targeting of sanctions and secondary sanctions by the US seemingly taking a heavy toll.
Turkey-Russia trade leapt after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with Ankara opting to maintain neutrality in the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv and thus not imposing sanctions of its own. Though Turkey’s Erdogan administration claimed to be at least adhering
to Western sanctions, the US and EU grew increasingly dismayed as evidence mounted that there were accelerating flows of “dual-use” goods – which can be used
by Russia’s defence industry – arriving in Russia via Turkey, a Nato member.
Since the end of last year, Washington has refined its targeting of sanctions in relation to financial institutions and companies that are facilitating and sustaining trade with Russia. A particu- lar concern is products such as industrial machinery and spare parts that can help equip Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
Machinery exporters, who gained most from Turkey’s surging shipments to Russia in 2023, could see sales there fall by
$1bn this year due to “ambiguous” and “rapidly expanding” sanctions lists, together with a crackdown on items deemed
www.bne.eu