According to company’s plan for 2030, use of products in electric batteries for cars and other vehicles will represent 35% of revenue

06/08/2022

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Ricardo Lima, Eduardo Ribeiro — Foto: Carol Carquejeiro/Valor

CBMM’s main business today continues to be the use of niobium in the steel industry. But in eight years, in its plan for 2030, the use in electric batteries for cars and other vehicles will represent 35% of the revenue of the Brazilian company, which is a world leader in the market of niobium products and its alloys.

An important step, within the strategy of the company controlled by the Moreira Salles family, one of the owners of Itaú Unibanco, is expected to be taken by the end of this year, said Eduardo Ayrosa Ribeiro, CEO of CBMM until the end of this month, when Ricardo Mendonça Lima, currently vice president, takes office.

Mr. Ribeiro told Valor that the company’s board of directors, chaired by Pedro Moreira Salles, will evaluate the proposal to build a niobium oxide plant capable of producing 20,000 tonnes per year. The plant is initially estimated at R$1.2 billion, Mr. Lima said.

It is from the ferroniobium alloy, Mr. Ribeiro explains, that products are produced for use in various noble applications, such as electric batteries.

So far, 90% of sales of niobium products leaving the company’s mine and metallurgy facilities in Araxá, Minas Gerais, go to the steel industry as ferroniobium. The remaining 10% are alloys and special oxides with various applications, such as in semiconductors.

Currently, CBMM has an oxides unit for 10,000 tonnes per year. And it has already made some sales of oxides for batteries, the executive said. There were 50 tonnes in 2021, and the company expects to sell 1,000 tonnes this year – destined for automobiles, commercial vehicles, motorcycles and electronic equipment. The company is already developing the product even for robots in logistics centers.

The focus is many years, or decades, ahead. The main niobium consumption trends, says Mr. Ribeiro, will be in the mobility industry, electrification, urbanization, digital transformation and sustainability, “where the material can add value. Our focus is on niobium products, using the company’s long-term reserves.” The niobium reserves in Araxá, at the current rate of production, are sufficient for more than 100 years.

“In the new scenario, we could have two to three more oxide plants of 20,000 tonnes each,” the CEO said. This is what is designed to meet the future demands for niobium in the new global consumption grid.

The production of electric batteries is advancing at a fast pace, with lithium as the base mineral for all of them. Other elements make up the parts of the batteries (cathode, anode, electrolyte and separator). These are niobium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, iron and carbon-based materials, such as natural and synthetic graphite, and hence graphene.

CBMM’s most advanced project is a partnership with Toshiba to manufacture electric batteries with a niobium anode. It is already in an advanced stage of testing with automotive customers in Japan. In Brazil, it will start with electric buses made by VW Caminhões, Mr. Ribeiro says. “In this partnership, we are in talks with customers, and production on a commercial scale will be accelerated from 2025 onwards,” he said.

In addition to Toshiba, CBMM is working on the development of applications for niobium alloy and oxides with universities, research centers and several other partners worldwide. “Many important companies are in this race,” the executive said.

At the same time, the company is shaping its production base in Araxá – today it has a production capacity of 150,000 tonnes of ferroniobium per year. It is enough to the level of 100,000 tonnes foreseen for this year – 90,000 tonnes of ferroniobium and 10,000 tonnes of other products.

The 2030 plan, however, considers one more expansion cycle, to be defined at 50,000 or 70,000 tonnes. If the market goes according to the projections, it will be around 210,000 tonnes of capacity, 35% of which, or 70,000 tonnes, will be for transformation into oxides. For steel tempering, there would be around 130,000 tonnes. “No growth is expected in the volume of steel produced, but there is room for greater use of niobium with an increase in steel for high-end applications with the decarbonization wave,” he said.

The new units, two or three of oxides, and one of ferroniobium are greenfield facilities, on their own sites, says Mr. Ribeiro. The company has space available in its 8,000-hectare area.

The new ferroniobium metallurgy will only be needed around 2028, with construction starting between 2025 and 2026. All in all, says the CEO, it is an investment package of R$9 billion until the end of the decade in the region – a prominent project is a new structure (dam) for the deposition of tailings called “n 9,” which will cost about R$2 billion.

“It’s been five years of studies, including studies in France and the U.S., to see with specialists the best technology for this structure,” says Mr. Ribeiro. The company is investing such a high amount of funds to have maximum security, the executive said, as the structure will be key in the company’s growth project.

*Ivo Ribeiro — São Paulo

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com/