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All major US and most European equity indices closed lower,
while APAC markets were mixed. US and benchmark European government
bonds closed sharply higher. European iTraxx closed slightly
tighter across IG and high yield, CDX-NAIG was flat, and CDX-NAHY
was slightly wider on the day. The US dollar, gold, and silver
closed higher, while copper, oil, and natural gas were lower on the
day.
Please note that we are now including a link to the profiles of
contributing authors who are available for one-on-one discussions
through our Experts
by IHS Markit platform.
Americas
All major US equity indices closed lower; DJIA -0.9%, S&P
500 -0.9%, Nasdaq -1.4%, and Russell 2000 -1.4%.
10yr US govt bonds closed -7bps/1.42% yield and 30yr bonds
-8bps/1.80% yield.
CDX-NAIG closed flat/53bps and CDX-NAHY +3bps/308bps.
DXY US dollar index closed +0.2%/96.32.
Gold closed +0.2%/$1,788 per troy oz, silver +0.6%/$22.33 per
troy oz, and copper -0.1%/$4.28 per pound.
Crude oil closed -0.5%/$71.29 per barrel and natural gas closed
-3.3%/$3.79 per mmbtu.
In a new guidance issued to US embassies on 10 December, the
Biden administration has outlined a policy that "rules out" US
government discussion or support of new unabated or partially
abated coal generation projects worldwide also restricts engagement
on some natural gas projects, and this has raised concern in the
LNG export industry. The guidance takes effect immediately. (IHS
Markit PointLogic's Kevin Adler)
The message to the embassies describes the document as an
interim guidance that builds on Biden's Executive Order 14008 on 27
January 2021 that "promotes ending international financing of
carbon-intensive fossil-fuel based energy" and "intensifying
international collaborations to drive innovation and deployment of
clean energy technologies."
"The Interim Guidance seems, on initial review, to be what we
have been expecting since it was first announced right after the
Inauguration—a tightening of the rules on fossil fuel
engagement abroad with some limited exceptions," said Fred
Hutchison, president of LNG Allies, in an email. "However, as is
true with any broad guidance document, it is tough to judge how
this will affect foreign LNG and natural gas infrastructure
development until specific projects are brought forward for US
government support."
The LNG industry has benefited from government support such as
loan guarantees for LNG import terminals and funding of feasibility
studies in other countries to assess the use of natural gas to meet
energy and environmental needs.
The guidance covers any engagement in which US government
expenditure is more than $250,000.
Averaged over the seven days ending last Thursday, the count of
US seated diners on the OpenTable platform was 12.4% below the
comparable period in 2019. This is at the lower end of a recent
range. Meanwhile, box-office revenues last week were 43.6% below
the comparable week in 2019. The last three weekly readings have
been materially below late summer averages, perhaps indicating some
pullback on the part of would-be moviegoers. (IHS Markit Economists
Ben
Herzon and Joel
Prakken)
The overall US Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 6.8% year over
year (y/y) in November, the fastest pace since 1982. As they have
in recent months, supply chain disruptions and sharp increases in
food and energy prices continued to drive up consumer prices
nationwide. Excluding food and energy (which saw prices rise 6.1%
and 33.3% y/y, respectively), the core CPI rose 4.9% y/y in
November, with a 19.2% increase in transportation costs (excluding
gasoline) and a 3.8% rise in shelter prices driving topline growth.
(IHS Markit Economist Francis Hagarty)
Regionally, prices rose most rapidly in the Plains and South.
The East South Central region experienced the greatest surge, 7.8%
y/y in November, with the Mountain and West North Central regions
not far behind at 7.7% and 7.6%, respectively. The states in these
regions are less densely populated than other parts of the country,
and consequently their residents are among the most car-dependent
for transportation given longer commuting distances and fewer
public transit options. Because of this outsized car reliance
compared with the rest of the country, transportation costs have
above-average weights in the respective CPI baskets of these
regions, meaning the 58% y/y surge in gas prices in November, and
18.4% jump in vehicle prices, also had an outsized impact.
The Northeast and Pacific states saw lower CPI inflation than
the nation overall in November. The consumer indices in these
regions are less influenced by the steep rise in transportation
costs and more heavily weighted toward services, which saw prices
grow a more modest 3.8% y/y in November. Shelter costs increased
less steeply than average in these areas as well, growing 3.1% in
the Northeast and 2.3% y/y in the Pacific compared with the 3.8%
increase seen nationally.
Among the metropolitan areas with consumer prices indices
measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), recent CPI
inflation has been highest in fast-growing cities with competitive
housing markets, with Tampa, Riverside, and Dallas seeing
exceptional price level increases of at least 7.5% y/y in November.
Among the 12 metropolitan areas reported by the BLS in November,
these three cities also saw the largest rise in housing prices
compared with year-earlier levels. While November data is not
available for Atlanta and Phoenix, they had experienced similar
above-average CPI inflation through October, driven by sizable
increases in housing costs.
Lower battery costs will drive consumers to buy more electric
vehicles (EVs) and allow US automakers to meet President Joe
Biden's goal of 50% light vehicle sales electric by 2030, according
to a General Motors (GM) official. (IHS Markit Net-Zero Business
Daily's Amena
Saiyid)
A battery is the single most expensive component of an EV,
making up at least 30% of a vehicle's retail price.
"From an automaker perspective, I would say battery costs,
battery costs, battery costs," said Michael Maten, senior
strategist for GM on EV and energy policy, when asked about the key
obstacle to greater EV adoption.
"Right now, battery costs are the significant barrier, but they
are coming down. But they need to come down much further," Maten
emphasized, as he spoke about the state of EVs in the US during an
online panel discussion held 8 December.
The discussion, which was jointly held by the nonpartisan,
nonprofit Our Energy Policy and law firm Schiff Hardin, was spurred
by Biden's goal to make half of all new passenger cars and
light-duty vehicles sold in 2030 zero-emissions vehicles, including
battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or fuel cell EVs.
Transportation was responsible for 1,875.73 million mt of GHG
emissions in 2019, 29% of the US total, with light vehicles
(passenger cars and light trucks including sports-utility vehicles)
contributing 59% of that total.
The transition to battery-powered EVs offers the greatest
opportunity for US automakers to reduce their emissions. The US
Bureau of Statistics said new light vehicle sales totaling 14.47
million units in 2020 accounted for 98% of total vehicle sales in
2020, according to Statista.
General Motors (GM) is said to be considering investments into
electric vehicle (EV) and battery manufacturing in the US state of
Michigan, according to media reports from Crain's Detroit Business
and the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), supplemented by Automotive News.
All report that GM and its battery partner LG Energy Solution are
considering a new battery cell plant near GM's Lansing Delta
Township Assembly plant, in Michigan, and with a potential
USD2.5-billion price tag and 1,200 jobs. The battery cell plant
would be through the GM and LG Chem Ultium Cells joint venture
(JV), with the investment split 50/50 between the two partners. In
addition, the WSJ has reported that GM is planning a USD2-billion
upgrade to its Orion, Michigan, EV assembly plant. The report
suggests that the plant would be revamped from building the current
Bolt EV and the Bolt electric utility vehicle (EUV) to a
next-generation electric pick-up on the Ultium platform. The
information on the battery cell plant reflects an Ultium Cell JV
tax exemption document filed with the City of Lansing, Michigan;
the document reportedly outlines a four-year construction timeline
to be completed by 31 December 2025. Related to the potential
Lansing battery plant investment, Automotive News quoted president
and CEO of the Lansing Economic Area Partnership Bob Trezise as
saying that GM has "not made any decisions at all…there are no
guarantees. These are just proposals that are part of a fiercely
competitive process". A GM spokesperson was quoted as saying, "GM
is developing business cases for potential future investments in
Michigan...We are not going to speculate or disclose additional
details of the projects under consideration beyond any information
included in public filings. These projects are not approved and
securing all available incentives will be critical for any business
case to continue moving forward." (IHS Markit AutoIntelligence's Stephanie
Brinley)
Media reports suggest that Rivian may announce the site
selection for its second electric vehicle (EV) assembly and battery
plant this week, and that the US state of Georgia is tipped to be
the location. Bloomberg sources have said that Georgia has been
selected "provisionally" and that no agreement has been signed, and
the outlet suggests that Rivian will make an announcement on 16
December. Rivian has declined to comment. It is not clear if
Georgia will ultimately be selected; earlier reports have indicated
that Rivian was looking at Texas and Arizona as well. For now, IHS
Markit light-vehicle production forecast reflects the expectation
that Texas would be selected, although future forecast rounds would
be updated as necessary. This is also not the first report
suggesting that Georgia is in the running. (IHS Markit
AutoIntelligence's Stephanie
Brinley)
Brazilian digital bank Nubank raised USD2.6 billion in its
initial public offering (IPO) in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
on 8 December. Based on the result, Nubank would be valued by
stockholders at over USD41.5 billion, making it Latin America's
listed institution with the largest market capitalization.
According to the bank's founder, the proceeds will be used to
expand growth in the bank's branches in Mexico and Colombia. (IHS
Markit Banking Risk's
Alejandro Duran-Carrete)
It is positive news for the Brazilian sector since it will
increase competition and is likely to incentivize traditional banks
to improve their digitalization strategy. However, the financial
technology (fintech) sector is still at an early stage of
development in Latin America and will face several challenges,
especially from a regulatory and profitability standpoint, before
representing a structural change to the region's banking
sectors.
Nubank has been rapidly growing in Brazil, benefiting from the
large digitalization of financial customers in the country as well
as from Brazil's rigid and expensive traditional banking
sector.
However, the bank has been struggling to generate substantial
revenues - a relatively common feature in the fintech sphere -
given its lack of credit penetration, focused almost only on credit
cards. This has resulted in the bank mostly allocating its assets
into securities (44.8% of its total assets as of end-2020), mostly
Treasury notes, or interbank lending (18.5% of its total assets as
of end-2020), which have generated low revenues. As a result,
Nubank has been unable to become profitable since its creation in
2013.
Additionally, traditional banks are likely to deter the
entrance of new competitors through the acquisition of rising
fintech banks or through the push for a tighter regulatory
framework, as in the case of Argentina (see Argentina: 23 July
2021: Increasing tensions between banks and fintech to contain
diversification within Argentine banking sector). These moves would
result in either a segregated and small fintech sector or a banking
sector similar to what IHS Markit has observed in the region, but
with some digital services for operational improvement.
Europe/Middle East/Africa
Most major European equity indices closed lower except for
Germany flat; Spain -0.5%, Italy -0.6%, France -0.7%, and UK
-0.8%.
10yr European govt bonds closed higher; Germany/Italy/Spain/UK
-4bps and France -3bps.
iTraxx-Europe closed -1bp/52bps and iTraxx-Xover
-2bps/258bps.
Brent crude closed -1.0%/$74.39 per barrel.
According to the results of a real-world analysis carried out
by the UK Health Security Agency, a booster dose of
Pfizer/BioNTech's Comirnaty (tozinameran) provides a significant
boost in protection against the Omicron variant for people who have
received two doses of Comirnaty or two doses of the AstraZeneca /
Oxford University (both UK) COVID-19 vaccine Vaxzevria. The
analysis involved 581 people confirmed as having been infected with
the Omicron variant. The analysis found that protection against
symptomatic Omicron infection increased to 70% with a Comirnaty
booster in people who had initially received two doses of
Vaxzevria, while the Comirnaty booster increased protection to 75%
for people who had received two doses of Comirnaty previously. This
compares with protection of around 90% against the Delta variant,
after a booster vaccination. Results of another study carried out
in Israel add weight to the evidence for booster vaccinations to
protect against the Omicron variant. The study, carried out by the
Sheba Medical Centre and the Central Virology Laboratory of the
Ministry of Health, involved an investigation of the serum of
healthcare workers, divided into two groups. One group had received
two doses of Comirnaty, the second dose having been administered
five to six months previously, while the other group had received
booster doses one month ago. The investigation found that while the
former group had almost no ability to neutralize the Omicron
variant, the boosted group showed a significant increase in
neutralizing ability (around a hundred times more than the
non-boosted group). This was still estimated to be four times lower
than the neutralization ability shown against the Delta variant,
however. (Life Sciences by GlobalData's Brendan Melck)
Vauxhall is planning to launch a variant of its battery
electric Vivaro-e light commercial vehicle (LCV) that features a
hydrogen fuel cell range extender in the UK during the next couple
of years. Vauxhall managing director Paul Willcox has been quoted
by Autocar as stating, "We're already in contact with UK fleet
operators that want to go the extra mile on sustainability, and we
look forward to bringing Vivaro-e Hydrogen to the UK soon." In a
separate statement, the brand added that it "expects right-hand
drive vehicles to arrive from early 2023". Separately, The
Telegraph Online reports that UK telecoms provider BT is in talks
with Vauxhall with regards increasing the availability of the
Vivaro-e to expand its fleet of electric LCVs. Willcox told the
newspaper, "BT Openreach has already ordered 270 all-electric
Vauxhall Vivaro-e from us and we are in discussion with them for
supply of further electric vans. We support the work of the
electric vehicle fleet accelerator group in buying British-built
electric vans and are keen to work with both them and the UK
government on how we can bring the electric Vivaro-e production to
our Luton [UK] plant." The announcement regarding plans to bring
the hydrogen fuel cell range extender Vivaro to the UK coincides
with Vauxhall's sister brand Opel completing production of the
first Vivaro-e Hydrogen which will be supplied as a field service
van to domestic appliance manufacturer Miele in Germany. This
variant is planned to be offered as an alternative to the Vivaro-e
in providing zero-emissions in use, but offering a long driving
range and faster refueling. (IHS Markit AutoIntelligence's Ian
Fletcher)
The use of robotics in food and beverage manufacturing is
increasing. This is the observation of ING Bank in its article
'Robots extend reach in the food industry', based largely on
research by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). The IFR
forecasts that new robot installations across all industries will
increase by 6% per year in the coming three years. (IHS Markit Food
and Agricultural Commodities' Julian Gale)
Food manufacturing is expected to contribute to this growth. It
is likely that not only the number but also the diversity of robots
in food processing plants will become greater.
The total global operational stock of robots grew by 8,600 in
2020, according to the latest data from the IFR. As a result of the
continuous growth, robot stock has almost doubled since 2014. Most
of the newly installed robots among food manufacturers in 2020 was
destined for the EU (27%), China (26%) and the US (22%). While
robots are becoming more common in food manufacturing, their
presence is limited to a minority of businesses with, for example,
only one in 10 food producers in the EU currently making use of
robots.
In 2020, food manufacturers in the US employed on average 89
robots per 10,000 employees, compared with 75 in the EU-27 in 2020.
However, within the EU there are considerable differences between
countries with robots being much more common in countries such as
the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Italy.
The rise of robotics in the food industry is not limited to the
industrial robots in food manufacturing. According to IFR data,
more than 7,000 agricultural robots were sold in 2020, an increase
of 3% compared with 2019. Within agriculture, milking robots are
the biggest category but only a fraction of all cows in the world
are milked this way. Moreover, there is a lot of activity around
robots that can harvest fruit or vegetables.
Volkswagen's (VW) software unit Cariad and automotive supplier
Bosch are reportedly nearing a deal to collaborate on automotive
software. According to a report by Reuters, VW is planning to
invest a triple-digit-million euro amount as part of the deal. To
create new revenue streams in the future, carmakers are
increasingly focusing on software-related services for vehicles. VW
has been in pursuit of a digital model for several years, laying
the groundwork through a number of initiatives. Recently, it
launched the ACCELERATE strategy to transform itself into a
software-driven mobility provider. VW has bundled all its software
efforts into one unit, Cariad, which will power passenger vehicles
that will be "Level 4 ready" by 2025. (IHS Markit Automotive
Mobility's Surabhi Rajpal)
Netherlands-based contract vehicle manufacturer VDL Nedcar is
said to be in the running for European production of Rivian
products. De Gelderlander has reported that this unit has been
linked with a possible sale to the startup automaker and investment
in the site. The Ministry of Economic Affairs is also being linked
to discussions with the startup automaker about production in the
Netherlands. However, while the previous minister of economic
affairs, Eric Wiebes, said that the government would help VDL
Nedcar find a replacement for the BMW X1 that it will lose in 2023,
the ministry would not be drawn on whether it would be Rivian.
Indeed, a spokesperson for the current Minister of Economic Affairs
Stef Blok said, "We would of course like to see Rivian come to the
Netherlands. The government is committed to this, as it is to
attracting other foreign investments in our country. We cannot
comment on the nature and content of these contacts because of
their confidentiality." (IHS Markit AutoIntelligence's Ian
Fletcher)
Volvo Cars has announced that it has been hit by a cyberattack
that has stolen some of its research and development (R&D)
data. In a statement released on 10 December, the automaker said it
"has become aware that one of its file repositories has been
illegally accessed by a third party. Investigations so far confirm
that a limited amount of the company's R&D property has been
stolen during the intrusion. Volvo Cars has earlier today
concluded, based on information available, that there may be an
impact on the company's operation." The automaker added that on
detection of the cyberattack, it "immediately implemented security
countermeasures." It is now "conducting its own investigation and
working with third-party specialist to investigate the property
theft." (IHS Markit AutoIntelligence's Ian Fletcher)
Slovak working-day-adjusted industrial output fell 0.6% year on
year (y/y) in October, improving over September's decline of 4.8%
y/y. In seasonally adjusted terms, output jumped 3.0% month on
month (m/m). (IHS Markit Economist Sharon
Fisher)
Manufacturing and mining continued to have a negative impact on
overall industrial output, although the drop in manufacturing was
considerably less steep in October than in September. Utilities
production increased rapidly in October, which marked the third
straight month of double-digit growth.
Within manufacturing, supply-chain bottlenecks meant that
transport equipment continued to have a strongly negative impact on
overall growth, but the decline (at 20.9% y/y) was milder than in
August and September. On the other hand, machinery and equipment
and metals recorded double-digit gains.
By industrial groupings, output of capital goods and consumer
durables fell 8.9% and 7.0% y/y, respectively. In contrast,
production of energy, non-durables, and intermediate goods
increased.
The improving manufacturing results were reflected in
Slovakia's foreign trade performance, as goods exports fell 2.3%
y/y in October, after a 4.8% y/y decline in September. Growth in
goods imports decelerated to 4.9% y/y - the weakest figure since
February - signalling that the negative impact of net exports could
be less dramatic in the fourth quarter than in the previous
period.
Asia-Pacific
Major APAC equity indices closed mixed; Japan +0.7%, Mainland
China +0.4%, Australia +0.4%, Hong Kong -0.2%, South Korea -0.3%,
and India -0.9%.
China's Shaoxing City locked down its Shangyu District
unexpectedly on Dec. 10 to conduct large-scale COVID-19 tests,
sources told OPIS over the weekend. Shangyu District was locked
down last Friday, after Shaoxing City declared its highest level of
emergency Covid response on Thursday, said sources from nearby
Ningbo and Hangzhou cities. (IHS Markit Chemical Market Advisory
Service's Chuan Ong)
There are no known polyester or upstream plants in Shangyu
District.
Shaoxing City is home to Reignwood, a 3.2 million mt/yr
purified terephthalic acid (PTA) producer. The company's main 1.4
million mt/yr unit shut on March 6 this year for maintenance, but
never restarted. It also has three lines with 600,000 mt/yr each,
but these have idled for years.
Polyester plants based in Shaoxing City include Guxiandao,
Hengming, Jiabao, Jinxin, Juxing, Luyu, Guxiandao, Rongsheng,
Tiansheng and Yongsheng. These account for around 7% of China's
total 62 million mt/yr production.
Keqiao and Binhai Districts in Shaoxing host crucial downstream
printing and dyeing mills. These have not been locked down, but are
impacted by the city-wide emergency measures and could suffer
logistical problems.
BAIC has increased its stake in Daimler to 9.98%, according to
a company statement. The statement said that BAIC has actually held
the stake since 2019. Daimler owns a 9.55% stake in BAIC's Hong
Kong SAR-listed unit BAIC Motor, as well as a stake of 2.46% in the
Shanghai-listed BAIC BluePark. According to an agreement between
both parties, BAIC has confirmed that it will not raise its stake
in Daimler any further. Commenting on the stake increase, Daimler
CEO Ola Källenius said, "We welcome all long-term strategic
shareholders who support our strategy. During our partnership with
BAIC, China has emerged as the largest global market for
Mercedes-Benz and as a key driver of the shift towards electric
mobility and digitalization. BAIC's shareholding is a reflection of
their commitment to our joint successful manufacturing and
development alliance in the world's biggest car market." The
Chinese state-owned BAIC has been Daimler's main partner in China
since 2003 and operates Mercedes-Benz factories in Beijing through
Beijing Benz Automotive. (IHS Markit AutoIntelligence's Tim
Urquhart)
The diffusion index (DI) of current business conditions for
large non-manufacturing groupings in the Bank of Japan's December
Tankan Survey has risen by 7 points to 9. Although this was the
highest level in eight quarters, it remains below the
pre-COVID-19-virus pandemic level. The improvement was driven by
softer declines in the DIs of personal services (up by 36 points to
-9) and accommodation/eating and drinking services (up by 24 points
to -50), reflecting easing containment measures to counter COVID-19
Delta variant cases. The high level of the DIs for information
services (34) and communication (29) suggests the continued
expansion of businesses related to digitalization. (IHS Markit
Economist Harumi
Taguchi)
The DI of current business conditions for large manufacturing
groupings held at the September level at 18. Although the DIs for
supply and demand conditions suggest that domestic and external
demand have improved from September, the DIs for changes in output
and input prices indicate higher input costs relative to increases
in output prices weighed on business conditions for manufacturers.
The conditions for both small manufacturing and non-manufacturing
groupings improved (up 2 points to -1 and up 6 points to -4,
respectively), but remain in negative territory, pointing to a
lagging recovery for small enterprises.
Despite the improvement in current conditions, outlooks for the
coming three months remain sluggish. The DIs for future business
conditions for large manufacturing and non-manufacturing fell by 5
points and 1 point, respectively, with expectations of softer
domestic and external demand. Although manufacturers expect input
price increases to ease slightly, they believe that it will be
difficult to increase output prices. The DI for future business
conditions for small manufacturing held at the current level while
the DI for small non-manufacturing fell by 2 points from the
current level. Small enterprises also expect softer domestic and
external demand over the next three months, although they
anticipate higher output prices relative to large enterprises.
Fixed investment plans (including software, research and
development, excluding land) for all enterprises were revised down
by 0.8 percentage point to an 8.5% y/y rise in FY2021/22. Planned
investment in machinery and equipment was unchanged from the
previous survey at a 7.9% rise, but investment plans for software
and research and development were revised down by 0.7 percentage
point to 13.5% and by 0.3 percentage point to 5.4% y/y,
respectively.
Japan's private machinery orders (excluding volatiles) - a
leading indicator for capital expenditure (capex) - rose by 3.8%
month on month (m/m) in October following two consecutive months of
decline. Orders from non-manufacturing rose by 16.5% m/m, which
offset a 15.4% m/m drop in orders from manufacturing. (IHS Markit
Economist Harumi
Taguchi)
Orders from the public sector increased solidly, by 46.4% m/m,
following a 23.8% m/m drop in the previous month. Orders from
overseas also rebounded, with a 17.2% m/m rise after two
consecutive months of decline.
The solid increase in orders from non-manufacturing largely
reflected surges in orders from transport and postal services (up
170.1% m/m) and retail services (up 117.2% m/m), and rebounds in
orders from agriculture, forestry and fishing, and finance and
insurance. The weakness in orders from manufacturing was due
largely to declines after surges in orders from chemical and
chemical products, and non-ferrous metals.
Tesla has received the homologation certification for three
more models, reports The Hindu Business Line. The total count of
the approved Tesla models by India's vehicle testing and
certification agencies in the country is seven. Homologation as a
process includes certifying a particular vehicle as roadworthy in a
country after it meets all the specified criteria. In August, Tesla
Inc. received approval to make or import four models in India by
the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The four Tesla models
have been certified as roadworthy. (IHS Markit AutoIntelligence's
Tarun Thakur)
Olectra Greentech plans to set up a manufacturing plant for
electric buses in Hyderabad. According to a report by ET Auto, the
company will invest over INR6 billion (USD79 million) in the
facility, which will have capacity of 10,000 units and will be
spread over 150 acres. The facility will also manufacture electric
three-wheelers and trucks. Olectra Greentech, previously called
Goldstone Infratech, entered the EV segment in 2016 by forming a
joint venture (JV) with BYD Auto Industry Co Ltd. The report added
that the company currently has won orders for nearly 2,000 electric
buses worth INR3-3.5 billion, which it plans to supply in the over
a year. The company will look to enter the electric truck market as
well in partnership with a truck-maker and is already in talks with
BYD to collaborate on electric passenger cars. (IHS Markit
AutoIntelligence's Isha Sharma)
Vietnam's Vingroup, the owner of automaker VinFast, has
announced the construction start of its first battery cell plant;
the project itself was announced in October. In a statement emailed
to IHS Markit, Vingroup said that construction of its VinES Battery
Manufacturing Factory has officially begun. The plant will provide
lithium-ion batteries for VinFast electric vehicles (EVs), with
phase one including a casting shop, a welding shop, and a packaging
(battery pack) shop designed to produce 100,000 battery packs per
year. Phase two, Vingroup said, will expand production to include
battery cells and upgrade capacity to 1 million battery packs per
year. Vingroup said that the plant uses European- and
American-standard technologies with a workflow automation rate of
80%. It notes that it has a three-pillar approach to batteries,
including sourcing from top battery manufacturers, collaborating
with partners to produce the "world's best" batteries, and
conducting in-house research and development (R&D) for battery
production. (IHS Markit AutoIntelligence's Stephanie
Brinley)
Posted 13 December 2021 by Chris Fenske, Head of Capital Markets Research, Global Markets Group, S&P Global Market Intelligence
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