By Chris Berry (@cberry1)
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· The mining sector remains challenged by multiple headwinds including a lack of investment, currency headwinds, slower productivity, excess capacity, and deficient global demand.
· Debt overhangs and slowing emerging markets – specifically China – appear to be the culprits behind slack demand. These forces must be reckoned with.
· Longer-term, however, innovation, sustainability, and urbanization are legitimate drivers of growth and help promulgate “good” deflation which enhances productivity and can drive returns.
· This note examines these phenomena and which sector(s) of the mining industry may benefit.
Groundhog Day
After three-plus years of a dismal mining investment environment and the potential for it to continue for some time, a number of questions arise from the soul searching many of us have done to try and make sense of this. According to Bloomberg, the value of the TSXV has fallen from its peak by almost 72%. This market environment necessitates a different method of thinking and evaluation about publicly traded mining companies. The good news is that it appears that many metals prices have bottomed, though this doesn’t mean that the cycle has definitively turned. The bad news is that the global economy still appears to be struggling with excess capacity AND muted demand. China, the seemingly endless engine of metals demand is unquestionably altering its paradigm for economic growth from one of infrastructure build out and exports to one more focused on internal consumption. With China’s debt to GDP ratio of 282% according to McKinsey, this move to a new growth model is absolutely necessary to maintain a sustainable growth rate, but there is no overnight fix to achieve this type of change. The success of this transition won’t be known for years, though the effects are already being felt.
By Chris Berry (@cberry1)
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Amid the Tesla-infused hype surrounding batteries a number of truths have become evident.
First, battery costs are falling – fast. The overall cost of a lithium ion battery has fallen by over 90% since its commercial introduction in 1990 and the CAGR in the price decrease in recent years per kilowatt hour (kWh) is roughly 14%. Should this rate of decline continue, electric vehicles should be able to compete on total cost of ownership (TCO) with traditional internal combustion engine vehicles within five years.
By Chris Berry (@cberry1)
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Given the importance of copper as a proxy for global economic growth, the recent rebound in the metal may indicate signs of a bottom. The chart below shows the recent price performance with copper up 18% from its low earlier this year of $2.45 per pound.
Originally published on April 15, 2015
By Chris Berry (@cberry1)
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With an increasing amount of attention focused on metals used in technology, several issues have become clear. First, some are more important than others. Second, the amount of a metal used in an application isn’t as important as is the cost to procure it. Third, a general lack of transparency in pricing clouds the overall potential opportunities.
Given these challenges, it’s a wonder anyone would care at all about the Energy Metals, but it has become increasingly clear that the demand is there. One metal in particular which offers interesting answers to the above issues and deserves more careful study is cobalt.
By Chris Berry (@cberry1)
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As the commodities markets continue to struggle, I’ve been outspoken for some time now on the need for companies across the entire value chain to focus on ways to lower costs to remain competitive. While Selling, General, and Administrative (S,G,&A) expenses are likely the easiest places to start “cutting to the bone”, there is a limit here. Having a top tier deposit and great management team is no longer enough when you look at the supply gluts for many of the metals mentioned frequently in our regular commentary.
For an aspiring junior mining company to join the ranks of producers in the lithium space, for example, the project will either need to match or beat the financial metrics of the majors.
By Chris Berry (@cberry1)
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Could it be that we’re starting to see some signs of life in pockets of the metals space? One such pocket involves scandium, a metal which I have written favorably on many times in recent years. The size of the global market (possibly 10 to 15 tonnes – about $40,000,000) and number of players (fewer than five) has kept investor interest at bay and really led to the chicken and egg problem I’ve discussed.
Fortunately, that may be changing. Recently, I’ve written about a few potential survival strategies for junior mining companies looking to survive what could be a few more years of sideways to down markets. These include embracing technology to lower operating expenditures or creating your own high tech value chain.
By Chris Berry (@cberry1)
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After watching the 60 Minutes report on Molycorp (NYSE: MCP) recently, I posted the following tweet:
By Chris Berry (@cberry1)
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If anything has become clear in the resource space in recent years, sustained value creation is hard to come by. The reasons for this are manifold. Last week I discussed the likelihood of M&A in the Energy Metals space but didn’t allude to how this is likely to happen. There are a multitude of ways for these arrangements to occur, but one in particular seems absent from the discussion. Given oversupply and the great engine of commodity demand (China) slowing, perhaps the time is right for a Berkshire Hathaway-style model in the Energy Metals space.
By Chris Berry (@cberry1)
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It would appear that Chair Yellen’s press conference yesterday in the set the stage for a Fed Funds rate increase in June or September of this year. We remain unconvinced.
It was interesting to note how financial markets reacted to the removal of a single word (patience) from the Fed’s most recent statement. The Dow, gold, and oil all roared higher and seemingly (for the moment anyway) forgot about the increasingly disappointing economic data in the US including housing starts, retail sales, and industrial production. Export growth also slowed, and you can thank the strong US Dollar for that.
