Energy Transition Helps Drive Metals & Minerals Spending

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--On Wednesday, Industrial Info's industry experts, including Joe Govreau, vice president of research for the Metals & Minerals Industry, presented a webinar providing insight into the trends and spending outlook for the global sector. One of the strongest drivers in the Metals & Minerals Industry at the moment is the energy transition, which is accelerating development in mining for some commodities as well as smelting activity.

The energy transition to cleaner forms of power with less emissions is driving spending across multiple industries. Among the metals and minerals segments affected is uranium mining, which has seen an uptick in activity thanks to renewed interest in nuclear power, the mining and smelting of battery metals, and the phasing-out of coal use in the West. Many countries have pledged to have net-zero emissions by 2050, and the Metals & Minerals Industry is showing plenty of activity to help keep pace with these goals.

These energy-transition projects have helped bring the uptick in spending seen across the industry in each of the three years since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020. Industrial Info is tracking more than $890 billion worth of metals and minerals projects that are set to kick off in 2024. Not all of these will move forward as planned due to deferment, cancellation or being placed on hold. With the expected rate of project fallout, IIR expects Metals & Minerals Industry spending to be about $302 billion across the world this year, an increase from 2023 spending.

Industrial Info expects an uptick in Metals & Minerals Industry spending this year across most geographic regions, with notable exceptions being Latin America, which is grappling with nationalization issues, and Russia, where the war with Ukraine continues to affect production and sales. East Asia, thanks to China, leads the world with more than $272 billion worth of projects currently under construction, followed in a distant second position by the U.S. and Canada, with $74.8 billion. Other regions showing strong growth include Southeast Asia due to some large nickel projects that are being helped along by energy-transition demand.

Mining remains the leading sector of the Metals & Minerals Industry, accounting for 40% of potential spending, accounting for $209 billion worth of planned projects in 2024. The top mined commodities are coal, copper, gold and iron ore. Mining expenditures grew 11% in 2023, and this is expected to continue into 2024. Spending in the mining sector has doubled since 2017 and is this year expected to reach its highest level since 2014. Planned smelting projects, which include the smelting of all non-ferrous metals and secondary smelting involving recycling, have overtaken the steel sector for second position, with $97 billion worth of projects planned to kick off this year.

Govreau spent some time discussing the lithium sector, activity of which has escalated rapidly in recent years but is starting to show signs of slowdown. Of the 79 currently operational lithium mines, 30 have come online in the past two years. With this influx of supply, along with the slower-than-expected adoption in many geographies of electric vehicles that use lithium in their batteries, lithium prices have come down and activity is starting to wane.

If you missed this webinar or would like to review some of its highlights, the presentation soon will be available in Industrial Info's On-Demand Webinar Library.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).