LME Metal Purchase indicators –Steel, Aluminum, Nickel, Cobalt, Lithium Hydroxide price and market overview

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The Electric bike materials purchase indicators are like below:

Moving commodities in July: Aluminium -5.2%, Nickel -6.3%, Lithium Hydroxide -11.8% and plastics in general (LLDPE (foil), PVC (foil), PC (clear bright) on average -7.4%). Crude oil (-10.8%) and rubber (-6.9%) dropped as well. Other materials moved within narrow ranges and the same applied to main currency pairs. Container shipping rates continued to rise from already elevated levels, Shanghai – EU+9.8% and China-EU +27%.

 

LME Metal Purchase indicators –Steel, Aluminum, Nickel, Cobalt, Lithium Hydroxide price and market overview

Original: www.lme.com

LME metals in 12 months: (USD/Ton)

Indicator Aug-23 Sep-23 Oct-23 Nov-23 Dec-23 Jan-24 Feb-24 Mar-24 Apr-24 May-24 Jun-24 Jul-24
Steel LME Far East 3 months 375 380 370 400 415 410 405 385 385 385 385 390
Aluminium LME 3 months 2,150 2,200 2,180 2,180 2,230 2,200 2,180 2,200 2,500 2,600 2,480 2,350
Aluminium China local 18,600 19,170 19,000 18,800 18,920 18,900 18,800 19,160 20,000 21,000 21,000 20,000
Nickel 20,500 19,500 18,290 16,500 16,400 16,100 16,200 17,500 18,600 19,800 17,500 16,400
Copper 8,380 8,300 7,950 8,250 8,450 8,350 8,350 8,730 9,400 10,100 9,600 9,400
Cobalt (3 months buyer) 32,500 32,500 32,500 32,500 30,000 28,200 27,900 27,780 27,600 26,900 26,300 25,900
Lithium Hydroxide 35500 28500 24000 21000 17000 15000 13250 13270 13700 14300 13600 12000

 

Steel: prices hardly moved (from USD 385/ton to USD 390/ton in July, and to ~USD 371/ton as of today), as news on continued demand weakness persisted in China:

  • China mandated new (higher) material quality standards starting in September, driving mills and traders to flood the market with old stockpiles.
  • China’s economy grew less than expected in Q2, and home prices slumped the most in nine years. The data reduced the global demand and Chinese economic output.

 

Aluminium: price dropped from USD 2,480/ton to USD 2,350/ton in July (-5.2%, ~USD 2,200/ton as of today), hovering near their lowest in five months.

  • Aluminum output in China rose by 6.2% y-o-y in June to 3.76 million tons, the highest since November 2014.
  • China economic data pointed at continued depressed domestic demand. Manufacturing PMI pointed to a third straight decline in July.
  • Chinese factories struggle offset the lower domestic demand with exports.

Aluminium local prices in China decreased from CNY 21,000/ton to CNY 20,000/ton in July (-4.8%, ~CNY 18,750/ton as of today).

Nickel: price dropped from USD 17.5K/ton to USD 16.4K/ton in July (-6.3%, today USD 16K/ton).

  • Rapid expansion of Indonesia’s nickel industry has driven the world market to oversupply.
  • A temporary rise earlier this year was driven by geopolitical tensions and sanctions is now unwinding.
  • Global nickel inventory forecasts predict a four-year high in 2024.
  • As a result of lower prices, BHP Group Ltd. has stopped 2 major nickel mining projects in Western Australia.

 

Cobalt: price decreased slightly from USD 26.3K/ton to USD 25.9k/ton in July (-1.5%, ~USD 25.6K/ton today).

 

Lithium Hydroxide: price declined from USD 13.6/kg to USD 12/kg in July (-11.8%, ~USD 11.3/kg today), the lowest in over three years.

  • Lithium miners and producers continued to expand capacity and seek new reserves (expected output growth is close to 50% this year).
  • Chile announced to double their output over the next decade.
  • The EU charges 38% and USA charges 100% import tax on Chinese EV, causing a 15% export drop in June.

 

E-scooter trial launched for West of England

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A 12-month trial of e-scooters is being rolled out across parts of the West of England.

Hop-on hop-off e-scooters run by Voi Technology Ltd will be available in Bristol, Bath and South Gloucestershire to help residents and visitors get around.

The e-scooters will be capped to a maximum speed of 15.5mph and cannot be used on pavements.

The trial is expected to begin later this month.

The Swedish company will provide the e-scooters for short or longer-term rental allowing residents to take them home if required.

The trial is being led by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) in partnership with Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire councils, with the cost of rides and unlocking due to be announced at a later date.

The Department of Transport passed legislation earlier this year to accelerate the deployment of e-scooter trials across the UK.

A trial in Coventry was paused after five days following concerns over pedestrian safety and e-scooters being abandoned on the streets.

Voi Technology’s general manager, Richard Corbett, said: “Voi is making use of licence plates to help identify any misuse of our e-scooters, as well as investing in ambassadors on the streets to ensure that any anti-social behaviour is stopped in its tracks.”

An e-scooter trial has also started in Cheltenham and Gloucester where Gloucestershire County Council has appointed e-scooter operator, Zwings.

The Zwings e-scooters began appearing on the streets on 1 October costing £1 to unlock, and then 15p or 20p a minute for every ride, depending on the location.

Riders of hired and leased e-scooters, through the West of England’s trial, can legally use them on roads, cycle lanes or cycle tracks and must hold a full or provisional driving licence.

Currently, privately-owned e-scooters are banned to use in the UK anywhere except on private land.

The Transport Committee of MPs has arguede-scooters should be legalised on roads but riding on pavements should be prohibited.

BBC NEWS—When can I ride an e-scooter legally?

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What is an e-scooter?

They’re two-wheeled scooters with small, electric motors.

Their popularity has grown and scooter-sharing schemes now operate in more than 100 cities around the world – including San Francisco, Paris and Copenhagen.

People can hire e-scooters, often using smartphone apps, in a way similar to city centre bicycle hire schemes.

Electric scooters are freely available to buy in the UK online and in stores, and they cost anywhere from just over £100 to more than £1000.

Are e-scooters legal in the UK?

Currently, you can buy one but you can’t ride it on a UK public road, cycle lane or pavement. Anyone who does is committing an offence.

The only place an e-scooter can be used is on private land, with the permission of the landowner.

At the moment, they are classified as Personal Light Electric Vehicles (PLEVs), so they’re treated as motor vehicles and are subject to all the same legal requirements – MOT, tax, licensing and specific construction.

So, because they don’t always have visible rear red lights, number plates or signalling ability, they can’t be used legally on the roads.

The law covering e-bikes – which are battery-assisted pedal cycles – doesn’t currently cover e-scooters, but the government wants to regulate them in a similar way in future.

Normal scooters, those without motors, are not allowed on pavements or cycle paths – but they can be used on roads.

So how will the e-scooter rental trial work?

The Department for Transport wants e-scooters rental schemes – similar to those seen in European cities – tried out across England, Wales and Scotland.

Riders wouldn’t need to take out their own insurance to hire an e-scooter, but they would need a driving licence or at least provisional one.

The hired vehicles could be used – legally – within set geographical boundaries.

But it would still be illegal to use a privately-owned e-scooter on a public road, even if you were in a trial area.

The government says it will monitor safety and keep the year-long scheme – part of a £2 billion plan to invest in greener travel – under review.

Where will the trials be?

As well as bringing forward the start date to the beginning of July, the government has – in light of the coronavirus crisis – widened the scope of the scheme across the whole of Great Britain.

Initially, four “future transport zones” were chosen for the trials – the West Midlands; Portsmouth and Southampton; the West of England Combined Authority (Bristol, Bath and surrounding areas); and Derby and Nottingham.

The Department for Transport says: “A high number of areas across Great Britain have expressed an interest in running e-scooter trials.”

According to the BBC’s transport correspondent Tom Burridge, it is hoped the first rentable e-scooters could be up and running in Middlesbrough from the second week of July.

Can I be fined for using an e-scooter?

If you were to use a hired e-scooter outside of any of the trial areas – yes, you could be fined.

Likewise, if you use a privately-owned e-scooter on any public road, cycle lane or pavement.

You could get a £300 fixed-penalty notice and, if you have one, six points on your driving licence.

Who backs e-scooter legalisation?

There are strong advocates for the introduction of electric scooters in the UK.

The London Cycle Campaign (LCC) said: “The arrival of e-scooters offers a cleaner, low carbon alternative to cars and buses for those who can’t or don’t want to cycle.”

“LCC is calling for e-scooters to be legalised and allowed to use cycle tracks rather than be used on pavements.”

Are electric scooters the future of transport in the city?

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Easy to manoeuvre, petrol free and quite a lot of fun on two wheels, e-scooters are fast becoming a feature of the urban mobility scene in the quest for more sustainable ways to travel.

“Under the right circumstances these vehicles can massively reduce congestion and carbon emissions, certainly. I think this is the best solution, especially for trips from 1-6 km,” said Joe Lewin, Founder and CEO of start-up Blue Zoom, which provides a bespoke e-scooter service for commercial and residential properties in Europe and the Middle East.

“We have been talking about traffic and congestion for the last twenty years – how to get people out of cars in city centres. E-scooters are a great option. They are electric, they don’t take up space – You can get a lot of e-scooters in one car parking space,” said Kristina Nilsson from Swedish e-scooter firm VOI Technologies.

“This is a vehicle for sharing. On average, each e-scooter for hire is used 5 to ten times a day,” said Nilsson. VOI launched in August 2018 but now has e-scooters in 40 cities in 10 countries.

It is a nascent, fast growing and competitive market. From highly valued American firms like Bird and Lime which have attracted big investment, to Sweden’s VOI Technologies and start-ups like Blue Zoom, e-scooters are having a moment.

“It is a race for territory. There are so many cities and towns out there craving a micro-mobility solution but it has not yet been fulfilled,” Joe Lewin said.

Micro-mobility is the catch-all for e-bikes, e-scooters and e-skateboards. Billions have already been invested in the market. Research by consultants McKinsey says the European e-scooter market will be worth $150bn in Europe by 2030, up to $300bn in the U.S. and $50bn in China.

Germany, where e-scooters are quite popular, is to allow individual cities to decide on restrictions over where e-scooters are permitted to park and circulate. Credit: Michael Sohn / AP

However, while at MOVE2020, a mobility event in London, the talk was around e-scooters being an entry point into a new, sustainable infrastructure for getting around cities in the future, there are big questions around e-scooters and safety.

“Is an e-scooter classified as a road vehicle or something for pavements? If it is an Electric Vehicle, then there isn’t a problem because they can go in cycle lanes. What you categorize them as is a big challenge,” said Professor Jim Saker at Loughborough University.

Nilsson at Swedish firm VOI Technologies says new technology always needs new rules that can keep up with the fast pace of change.

“E-scooters are for sharing. That means we can make sure that what is on the roads is updated and is the best, latest technology. And what we do is a traffic test. 18-25 years olds are not taking driving tests because they are putting off owning a car, but we need to educate them on the rules of the road,” she said.

Lewin thinks perceptions are changing: “People have become more aware of these vehicles on roads, drivers in particular. And on cycle lanes. Infrastructure is improving so it is a safer environment as time goes on.”

Regulation is keeping up. E-Scooter companies operating in San Francisco now need permits. France has blocked people riding on the pavements. In Singapore e-scooters are only allowed on bike paths.

In the UK, riding an e-scooter is illegal on public roads, but there is a limited trial taking place in London. Plus, there will be a regulatory review in a British government consultation on e scooters. Until there is legislation, there is no way to insist on safety standards or reinforce the rules of the road.

Meanwhile, electric scooter companies in Germany might have to put the brakes on plans to operate in cities like Berlin, as some state governments push for a regulatory crackdown. German politicians were due to vote on amendments to the country’s Road Traffic Act on Friday which could give individual cities the right to restrict where e-scooters are parked – or ban them from the streets entirely. That’s not something Nilsson wants to see.

“I think e-scooters are here to stay in Germany. Certainly in places like Munich. But other cities may opt not to allow them on their streets if they don’t have the infrastructure in place to handle them – the right spaces for docking and for charging and bike lanes to ride e-scooters.”

Are Electric Scooters the Future? How Do They Actually Work?

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Are Electric Scooters the Future? How Do They Actually Work?

If you’re a particular age, then you might have memories of riding a scooter. Those flimsy, two-wheeled scooters that gave you freedom on the sidewalk in front of your house before your acquisition of a bike opened up the whole neighborhood.

Until recently, that image of a scooter as a nothing more than a child’s toy was the one most people carried.

Now, several companies are out to change that perception. They are banking big on the idea that the small, compact e-scooter is a viable personal transportation device.

But is it?

Let’s take a look at where e-scooters are at today, from their fundamental appeal to how they work to their practicality beyond ordinary weekend fun.

The Rise of the Electric Scooter

Although manual and electric kick- or push-start scooters have both been around for some time, the popularity of the latter has risen steadily over the past two decades.

Perhaps the central development in the design and marketing of today’s e-scooters is children are no longer the primary audience.

Make no mistake, the targets are still young. They just happen to have a different set of priorities.

College students on campus.

Young professionals who live and work in urban environments.

People looking for alternative means of transportation in those same cities.

Each of these groups offers a market segment that tends to eschew the norms and traditions of the past. Zipping around town on a low-speed, zero-emission scooter certainly caters to those demanding alternatives.

With a unifying factor that everyone over a certain age will probably look a little goofy riding one, it’s easy to see the appeal. It also doesn’t hurt that electric scooters come across as simple and easily accessible devices that are even easier to operate.

How Do Electric Scooters Work?

E-scooters, much like their non-powered siblings are about as straightforward as it gets when it comes to personal transportation devices.

In their simplest form scooters are composed of a narrow platform or deck, t-stem handlebars with a throttle and hand brakes, two wheels (although some models come with three or four), and front and rear suspension. Most scooters are fold-able, and some models also include a seat.

When it comes to variation, scooters are what they are. Alter the design too much, and they become an entirely different form of transportation. However, they do possess a few key areas where a slight difference makes a significant impact on performance.

It begins and ends with the battery.

Battery

You’ll find one of three battery types in the manufacturing of e-scooters, Nickel Metal Hydride, Lead-Acid, and Lithium-ion:

Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH)

A long-term market mainstay, NiMH batteries carry the middle ground between the well-known lead-acid and the newer Lithium-ion. NiMH batteries hold a longer charge versus a lead-acid version but are heavier than the Lithium-ion variety. Ultimately, these work well as a practical, cost-conscience alternative to the pricey Lithium-ion.

Lead-Acid

The long-standing workhorse of rechargeable batteries, lead-acid batteries have yet to lose their place as the preferred starter for automobiles and the power source for golf carts. Though a bit cumbersome for widespread use, you’ll still find plenty of these weighty and very inexpensive batteries in larger scooters.

Lithium-ion

The newest battery technology for e-scooters is also the most expensive, but for very good reasons. The Lithium-ion tech is more powerful, holds a charge far longer than either the lead-acid or NiMH, and do so in a much more lightweight package. More and more electric scooters are featuring these batteries and as the tech and production improve, so should the price.

Capacity, Range, Speed

The allure of the e-scooter both as a toy and as a potential vehicle for commuting is the simplicity of the whole endeavor. The other facet of its practicality, especially for adult professionals is its limitations.

Due to the diminutive build of scooters, the size of the onboard battery is typically smaller than a cable box, which means the overall performance of the rideable has its limits. Nowhere is this impact felt more than by the capacity, range, and speed.

More so than most other electric rides, a scooter’s range and speed are dictated directly by the capacity it carries and the terrain it traverses. With few exceptions, most scooter manufacturers provide an ideal set of circumstances to reach optimal range and speed, usually defined as a 120kg rider on a smooth flat surface.

VEHICOOL scooters max out at 25KM/H. Though most e-scooters can top out at speeds close to 30KM/H (with some newer models flirting with the 48KM/H mark) rare is the time an adult rider can achieve this mark.

This works well for riding electric scooters in an urban environment since it lends itself to a more comfortable, confident rider. Plus, anything faster typically invites accidents and potential injuries.

Safety

As with most personal e-vehicles, such as hoverboards, self-balancing unicycles, and Segways, the individual riding the device most often determines just how safe it is. However, staying upright on a scooter is less fraught with danger versus those other options.

The primary safety issue with scooters is when you place them among large groups of pedestrians and cars, which is happening now in a number of major cities across the Europe.

This intermingling of people on foot and those scooting by at a top speed of 25KM/H has created an uptick in accidents between the two, though reliable data does not yet exist on the exact numbers.

Beyond possible run-ins with non-riders, another primary safety concern revolves around the attire of the actual riders. Though every scooter manufacturer and ride-sharing company recommend the use of a helmet, and many cities dictate the wearing of headgear, very few e-scooter riders do so.

Final Thoughts

Few things in this world have ever made the jump from child’s toy to adult necessity. With people clamoring for travel alternatives and a lukewarm response from local governments, it will be interesting to see if the scooter-sharing industry has the wheels to carry it beyond a millennial fad.

If nothing else, it’s a noble attempt to make un-walkable cities a bit more comfortable to navigate and to alleviate some of the stress and congestion of urban living.

Regardless of how that turns out though, a weekend scoot around the neighborhood with the breeze in your hair and a pair of battery-powered wheels at your feet will never go out of style.