Page 125 - RusRPTOct23

shortages are unlikely.
The compelling supply outlook has led most major mining companies, except for Rio Tinto Group, which serendipitously discovered a significant deposit, to steer clear of the lithium industry. Their focus has shifted towards processing and refining lithium to achieve battery-grade quality suitable for energy storage.
Chris Berry, president of House Mountain Partners, an industry consultancy, highlights that the challenge in lithium lies in producing battery-grade quantities at scale, rather than its scarcity.
However, lithium extraction is not without challenges, including obtaining local permissions, which are increasingly difficult to secure. For instance, the massive Resolution copper mine in Arizona, housing a rarer metal, has faced significant delays. Similarly, the McDermitt caldera on the Nevada-Oregon border, potentially holding 120 million tons of lithium, is situated on contested Native American land.
A clear indication that the lithium market is not poised for a sudden upheaval was provided by the chairman of Chile's Codelco during questioning by lawmakers this week.
Russian coal inventories held in the Kuzbass region have swelled by 17% on the year to an average of 21m tonnes so far in 2023 as war-related logistics constraints, embargos and low prices hamper exports. Stocks in Russia’s main coal-mining region in southwest Siberia were seen this week at around 21m tonnes, compared with 18.8m tonnes at the same time last year and just 16m tonnes in September 2020, according to DBX estimates. At the same time, Russian thermal coal exports were projected to have dropped 2.5% on the year in January-September to 92.8m tonnes, the firm’s data showed.
9.1.12 Transport sector news
● Ships
Russia currently has 150,000 excess shipping containers that rail depots are struggling to manage, reflecting a surge in Chinese goods flowing into the country but much less moving out.
Though Russia has endured sanctions from western economies since its invasion of Ukraine, the government in Moscow expects trade volume with China will top $200 billion this year, from $185 billion in 2022, Container xChange said.
The result: a collapse in the secondary market for containers in Moscow, which
125 RUSSIA Country Report October 2023 www.intellinews.com