Obtain the data you need to make the most informed decisions by accessing our extensive portfolio of information, analytics, and expertise. Sign in to the product or service center of your choice.
All major US equity indices closed lower on the final trading
day of 2021, while the majority of APAC and European markets were
closed in observance of the New Year's holiday. US government bonds
closed almost flat on the day. CDX-NA and European iTraxx closed
almost unchanged across IG and high yield. Natural gas, copper,
silver, and gold closed higher, while the US dollar and oil 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; Russell 2000 -0.2%,
DJIA -0.2%, S&P 500 -0.3%, and Nasdaq -0.6%.
Final 2021 US equity index performance: S&P 500 +26.9%,
Nasdaq +21.4%, DJIA +18.7%, and Russell 2000 +13.7%.
10yr US govt bonds closed flat/1.51% yield and 30yr bonds
-1bp/1.91% yield, which is +60bps and +26bps on the year,
respectively.
CDX-NAIG closed -1bp/49bps and CDX-NAHY -1bp/292bps, which is
-1bp and +1bp week-over-week, respectively.
DXY US dollar index closed -0.4%/95.6, which ended 2021 +6.3%
on the year.
Gold closed +0.8%/$1,829 per troy oz, silver +1.3%/$23.35 per
troy oz, and copper +1.6%/$4.46 per pound.
Crude oil closed -2.3%/$75.21 per barrel and natural gas closed
+3.6%/$3.56 per mmbtu.
In Boston, coronavirus levels measured in wastewater are
spiking to more than quadruple last winter's surge. In Miami, more
than a quarter of people are testing positive for Covid. And a San
Francisco medical leader estimates that, based on his hospital's
tests, one of every 12 people in the city with no Covid symptoms
actually has the virus. Some projections are for a peak of more
than one million cases a day by as early as mid-January. "That
seems totally plausible to me, given that we're already at almost
600,000," said Sam Scarpino, managing director of pathogen
surveillance at the Rockefeller Foundation's Pandemic Prevention
Institute. (Bloomberg)
US seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment
insurance fell by 8,000 to 198,000 in the week ended 25 December.
The current level of claims is well below the 2019 average
(218,000) as employers are trying to retain existing employees amid
tight labor markets; indeed, the layoffs and discharges rate is at
a record low. The not seasonally adjusted (NSA) tally of
claims—at 256,146—is below the level of claims in the
comparable week in 2019, when there were 312,524 claims. (IHS
Markit Economist Akshat Goel)
Seasonally adjusted continuing claims (in regular state
programs) fell by 140,000 to 1,716,000 in the week ended 18
December, hitting its lowest since 7 March 2020. The insured
unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 1.3%.
In the week ended 11 December, continuing claims for Pandemic
Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) edged higher 1,287 to
117,721.
In the week ended 11 December, continuing claims for Pandemic
Unemployment Assistance (PUA) rose by 3,658 to 137,421. The number
of claims under PUA and PEUC should continue to trend lower in
coming weeks as states work through retroactive claims.
In the week ended 11 December, the unadjusted total of
continuing claims for benefits in all programs rose by 39,363 to
2,177,355.
Job postings declined last week to 7.6% above the January 2020
level, according to the Opportunity Insights Economic Tracker.
Although down somewhat from the five prior weekly readings, the
latest reading is still above averages over much of the summer and
fall, suggesting that labor demand remains firm, if easing somewhat
in the latest reading. In addition, averaged over the last seven
days, and after seasonal adjustment, passenger throughput at US
airports was just 3.4% below the January 2020 level, according to
our estimate based on daily data from the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA). So far, demand for air travel shows little
sign of weakening in the face of the rapidly spreading Omicron
variant of the COVID-19 virus. (IHS Markit Economists Ben
Herzon and Lawrence Nelson)
Total US frozen vegetable stocks, excluding potatoes, have
fallen to 2.56 billion pounds, down 2% m/m and down 2% y/y on 30
November. (IHS Markit Food and Agricultural Commodities' Vladimir
Pekic)
Frozen cut corn stocks lead with 672.5 million lb, up 4 y/y and
down 7% m/m, while frozen corn cob stocks reached 326.8 million lb,
up 7% y/y and down 9% m/m.
Green bean (regular cut) stocks fell 9% y/y and 7% m/m to 200.0
million lb. On the other hand, the inventory of frozen diced
carrots rose 13% y/y and 59% m/m to 161.5 million lb.
Frozen green pea stock is down 7% y/y to 241.1 million lb.
Frozen potato stock is down 5% y/y to 1.1 billion lb. This
includes 915.5 million lb of frozen French fries, down 6% y/y.
Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Rivian is postponing
deliveries of its R1T pick-up and R1S sport utility vehicle (SUV)
with a bigger battery pack (called the "Max" pack) until 2023,
reports Reuters, citing a letter from company CEO RJ Scaringe to
customers. According to the report, Scaringe said that the majority
of the 71,000 pre-orders for the two EV models in the United States
and Canada were for the versions with the smaller, 314-mile-range
battery pack (called the "Large" pack). The report states that a
Rivian customer posted Scaringe's letter to US social news and
discussion website Reddit. Reportedly, the letter said, "In order
to serve the largest number of preorder holders, we will be
prioritizing building the Adventure Package with Large pack battery
during the next year… [W]e value your loyalty and commitment and
will be reaching out to you in January to gauge your interest in
reconfiguring to an Adventure Package with Large pack battery so
that you can take delivery in 2022." The bigger, "Max" battery pack
is expected to provide 400 miles of range on one charge. The report
says that only 20% of the pre-orders were for EVs with the Max
pack. In early 2022, Rivian is to introduce a feature on customers'
accounts that will display their current delivery timeline. Some
customers reportedly placed orders in 2018. Delays to the launch
programs of EV startup companies, or to the EV programs of
established automakers, are reasonably common. In Rivian's case,
the company stated during its first-quarter earnings call that it
was experiencing production challenges, including supply-chain
constraints, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a
tight labor market, and short-term issues around building EV
battery modules. The statement that about 80% of Rivian's
pre-orders were for the versions of the EVs with the smaller
battery pack indicates that consumers may be more willing to buy
EVs with a range of about 300 miles than was presumed, or that
consumers may be choosing lower-range versions to keep down the
price of an already expensive product. (IHS Markit
AutoIntelligence's Stephanie
Brinley)
In this report, IHS Markit looks at US light-vehicle
registrations by brand and segment, comparing the calendar year to
date (CYTD) from January to October in 2019 and 2021. Through the
COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues, several segments and
brands have improved their market positions, while the decline of
car registrations has continued. As 2021 nears its end, US
light-vehicle registrations in the full year are expected to be
about 15 million units, up from 14.6 million units in 2020.
However, this forecast is down from expectations earlier in the
year that consumer behavior and demand could support a return to a
market of over 16 million units this year. Although the
semiconductor and other supply chain issues began to appear in late
2020 and early 2021, it was in the third quarter that light-vehicle
production was most impacted by the issues, and light-vehicle sales
and registrations have tumbled sharply since September. (IHS Markit
AutoIntelligence's Stephanie
Brinley)
Europe/Middle East/Africa
Most major European equity markets were closed in observance of
the New Year's holiday; UK -0.3% and France -0.3%.
Final 2021 European equity index performance: France +28.9%,
Italy +23.0%, Germany +15.8%, UK +14.3%, and Spain +7.9%.
Final 2021 10yr European govt bond yields and change in yield:
Germany -0.18% yield/+39bps, Spain 0.57% yield/+53bps, France 0.21%
yield/+55bps, Italy 1.18% yield/+63bps, and UK 0.97%
yield/+77bps.
iTraxx-Europe closed flat/48bps and iTraxx-Xover -1bp/242bps,
which is flat and +1bp week-over-week, respectively.
Brent crude closed -2.2%/$77.78 per barrel.
Mercedes-Benz has selected Cerence for conversational
artificial intelligence (AI)-powered electric vehicle (EV) use
cases and Cerence emergency vehicle detection (EVD), integrated
with the Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX) in the Mercedes-Benz
EQS EV, according to a press release by Cerence. "Intuitive
technology and a simple, easy-to-use interface are important
elements in the electric vehicle user experience as drivers demand
increasingly smart and high-tech capabilities. We're excited to
partner with Mercedes-Benz AG as they bring a new generation of
luxury EVs to market with specific capabilities that make the
ownership and driving experience safer and more enjoyable than
ever," said Cerence CEO Stefan Ortmanns. The EQS will be the first
vehicle to use Cerence's EVD, which alerts drivers of approaching
emergency vehicles. Cerence EVD uses the vehicle's microphones to
detect varying types and styles of emergency vehicle sirens
accurately. The voice assistant helps inform the driver about the
vehicle's battery status and ability to reach a location with a
question like "Is a roundtrip to work possible with my current
battery?" It helps search and filter EV charging locations by
factors like distance, availability, charging speed, and plug type.
It also provides proactive notification for low battery and ability
to extend range by limiting certain features. (IHS Markit
AutoIntelligence's Jamal Amir)
The offshore transformer station for one of the two topsides of
the Hollandse Kust (zuid) Alpha platform is successfully installed
on the jacket on 26th December 2021. The offshore transformer will
connect the offshore wind farm area with the same name to the Dutch
onshore high-voltage grid. Hollandse Kust (zuid) Alpha is the first
connection of an offshore wind farm to the Maasvlakte, with a
capacity of 700 MW.The contractor Petrofac has been working on the
fabrication of two high voltage alternating current (HVAC)
transformer stations Alpha and Beta at the Drydocks World
fabrication yard in Dubai, since last one year. Mammoet, a
specialist in heavy transport and lifting, took forward the
weighing and loading of the 3,830-tonne Alpha topside onto the
transport vessel Tai An Kou on mid of November. The wind farm
Hollandse Kust (zuid) developed by wind farm developer Vattenfall
is expected to be fully operational in 2023. The Beta topside, also
with a capacity of 700 MW, is expected to be installed in the first
quarter of next year. (IHS Markit Upstream Costs and Technology's
Monish Thakkar)
After a strong start to the fourth quarter of 2021, Russia's
industrial-sector growth stood at 7.0% y/y in November, slightly
easing from 7.4% y/y growth in October. (IHS Markit Economist Lilit
Gevorgyan)
Detailed data released by the Russian Federal State Statistics
Service (Rosstat) showed broad-based y/y growth in November.
Specifically, the mining sector held up its double-digit y/y growth
momentum, which started in October. The sub-index increased by
10.2% y/y in November, compared with y/y gains of 11.1% in October
and 9.2% in September.
Coal extraction was up by 11.4% y/y in November, while crude
oil and natural gas output was also up by 8.9% y/y. Rosstat
reported a continued expansion in natural gas and gas condensate
output, up by 4.8% y/y and 12.3% y/y, respectively, in
November.
Manufacturing-sector y/y growth increased in November to 5.3%,
from 5.0% in the previous month. This was driven by an 18.6% y/y
jump in production of beverages and 6.5% y/y growth in food
manufacturing, a key contributor to the overall index. Printing,
non-metal product, electronics, and furniture product output also
supported the expansion of the manufacturing sector.
The month-on-month (m/m) comparison, however, painted a
different picture. Industrial-sector growth, on seasonal- and
calendar-adjusted basis, was only 0.2% in November, following a
strong 5.1% m/m gain in October.
This weakness was mainly due to a drag in the mining sector.
The latter shrunk by 1.9% m/m in November, arguably from a high
4.9% m/m growth in the previous month. The extractive output fall
was compensated by a 0.8% m/m increase in manufacturing production,
and a 9.9% m/m rise in electricity, gas, and steam supply.
On 22 December 2021, Director of the Public Sector at Algeria's
Ministry of Industry Hocine Bendif announced that businesses
belonging to individuals found guilty on corruption charges would
be nationalized and operated by the government. The newly
nationalized firms would also be subject to restructuring.
According to Bendif, the process had recently begun with two firms
specialized in agribusiness belonging to the KouGC group, owned by
the Kouninef brothers, sentenced in 2020 to terms ranging up to 20
years in prison on charges of corruption and money laundering. The
government's announcement to nationalize firms associated with past
corruption and "undue privileges", in particular owned by
individuals close to former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika,
indicates a significant change in Algeria's decade-long economic
strategy. That strategy focused in large part on privatization,
moving away from a statist-oriented economy. Corruption
investigations concerning figures close to former President
Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his inner circle are highly politicized
and are probably intended to instill support and trust from the
population. Nationalization has traditionally been popular, in
particular by labor unions during disputes with private companies
(see Algeria: 28 March 2013: Civil Unrest: Protests in the oil-rich
south demanding employment are unlikely to be replicated to the
same scale in northern industrial areas). Other large businesses
currently under investigation include the ETRHB, Mazouz, and
Tahkout businesses. Nationalization is likely to serve the
government's import-substitution policy, aimed at reducing
Algeria's heavy import bill given declining foreign reserves
(depleted by over 60% since 2014). This is particularly the case
for the manufacturing and agri-food sectors. Foreign companies are
unlikely to be targeted but business partners, nonetheless, risk
being affected. Existing contracts with Algerian firms undergoing
or soon to undergo the nationalization process are highly likely to
be reviewed and altered, or fully cancelled, especially if
accusations of corruption or bribery emerge regarding their
original agreements (including over "undue privileges"). Contract
renewals and new contracts are likely to be subjected to increased
governmental scrutiny and requirements to operate locally (over
local content for instance). (IHS Markit Country Risk's Jihane
Boudiaf)
The central bank of the eight-nation West African Economic and
Monetary Union (known by its French acronym of UEMOA) has
maintained its benchmark interest rate at 2.0%, the bank's monetary
policy committee (MPC) announced on 9 December. The West African
CFA franc zone comprises Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire,
Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. (IHS Markit
Economist Anton
Casteleijn)
The MPC meeting of the Central Bank of West African States
(Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest: BCEAO), was
held by videoconference under the chairmanship of Tiémoko Kone,
governor of the BCEAO. The minimum rate for open-market operations
remained at 2.0%, the marginal lending rate at 4.0%, while the
reserve requirement ratio for banks in the monetary union also
remained unchanged at 3.0%.
The economic recovery in the UEMOA region continued in the
third quarter of 2021, with a 6.7% year on year (y/y) increase in
real GDP, after a 7.7% increase in the previous quarter. The
sustained recovery across all sectors was supported mainly by
sustained domestic demand strength and sustained improvement across
all sectors.
Economic growth is mostly driven by a rebound in private
consumption and private investment and reflects the relaxation of
lockdown constraints and the return of foreign direct investment.
The West African bloc's level of foreign-exchange reserves fell
slightly to 6.1 months of import cover at the end of September
2021, compared with 6.2 months at the end of June, while the
average rate on bank loans fell 14 basis points in the third
quarter of 2021 to 6.22%.
Asia-Pacific
Most major APAC equity markets were closed in observance of the
New Year's holiday; India +0.8%, and Mainland China +0.6%.
Final 2021 APAC equity index performance: India +22.0%,
Australia +13.0%, Japan +4.9%, Mainland China +4.8%, South Korea
+3.6%, and Hong Kong -14.1%.
China Evergrande Group halted trading (2 January) in its shares
following local media reports that the company has been ordered to
tear down apartment blocks in a development in Hainan province. The
shares were suspended pending an announcement containing inside
information, Evergrande said in a brief statement. A local
government in Hainan told Evergrande to demolish 39 buildings in 10
days because the building permit was illegally obtained, Cailian
reported on Saturday. The project is on artificially built islands
off the coast of Hainan. (Bloomberg)
Mainland China's official composite output Purchasing Managers'
Index™ (PMI™), covering both manufacturing and non-manufacturing
sectors, stayed at 52.2 in December and unchanged from the figure a
month ago, reflecting in slowing manufacturing production and
improvement in services. (IHS Markit Economist Yating
Xu)
China's official manufacturing PMI™ rose by 0.2 percentage
point to 50.1, marking the second consecutive month of increase
following the power crunch-driven contraction in October and
September. The headline recovery in December was largely driven by
slower contraction in the new orders and inventory of purchased
materials and finished goods segments resulting from the continuous
decline in input and output prices. However, production growth
moderated, and the new export orders segment registered deeper
contraction. The manufacturing growth outlook improved steadily
with the expectation sub-index rising for the third consecutive
month, but at 55.3 the reading remains well below the pre-pandemic
average.
By firm scale, the headline recovery in manufacturing PMI™ was
led by larger firms with PMI™ of large and medium-sized firms rose
by 1.1 and 0.1 points respectively to 51. However, PMI for small
firms declined by 2 points to 46.5%. By sector, the PMI™ for the
high-tech manufacturing, equipment manufacturing, and manufacturing
of consumption goods sectors remained in expansion territory, while
that for energy-intensive sectors contracted at a slower pace.
China's non-manufacturing Business Activity Index increased by
0.4 percentage point to 52.7, staying in expansion territory for
the fourth consecutive month. Expansion in the construction sector
weakened owing to the cold weather and the upcoming New Year and
Spring Festival holidays, according to comments from a senior
statistician from the NBS. Services growth accelerated as the
airline, catering, and entertainment sub-indexes that were hit hard
by the pandemic in November recovered to expansion territory in
December, and the monetary and capital market services segments
maintained robust growth. However, the new orders sub-index of the
services segment remained in contraction for seventh consecutive
month and the expectations sub-index further declined.
Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group (Evergrande), the new
energy vehicle (NEV) division of China's property giant Evergrande
Group, began production of its first model on 30 December.
According to Cailian, production for the Hengchi 5, has already
begun at Evergrand's Tianjin plant. Hengchi 5 is a battery electric
sport utility vehicle. The model is 4,725 mm long with a wheelbase
of 2,780 mm. Evergrande has hit a new milestone in its effort to
tap into China's booming NEV sector with the start of production of
the Hengchi 5. The arrival of this new model, however, is unlikely
to immediately help Evergrande to regain lost confidence among
investors as its parent company, Evergrande Group, has been
grappling with severe debt issues in the past few months.
Evergrande announced in 2019 a series of costly projects to
construct its own vehicle manufacturing facilities, including an
investment of CNY160 billion (USD25 billion) to build a
manufacturing base in Guangzhou and CNY120 billion for a
manufacturing site in Shenyang. These projects helped the company
to acquire a vast amount of land from local governments for the
construction of manufacturing facilities as well as residential
buildings. In a company filling to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
published on 26 November, Evergrande said it has returned the
undeveloped lands of approximately 2,663,300 square metres
designated for living projects and industrial use and involving
seven projects at a total amount of CNY1.284 billion. The proceeds
are primarily used for project construction and payment of wages
for migrant workers, and land payment for the remaining land plots.
(IHS Markit AutoIntelligence's Abby Chun Tu)
Baidu has unveiled open-source autonomous vehicle (AV) platform
Apollo 7.0 at its AI conference Baidu Create 2021, reports Gasgoo.
The Apollo 7.0 offers a series of upgrades such as the one-stop
practice cloud platform Apollo Studio, leading simulation service,
and highly efficient new models. It is based on four open-source
platforms including cloud service, open-source software, hardware
development, and vehicle authentication. Baidu launched its AV
platform, Apollo, in July 2017 and has attracted more than 210
partners for it. To date, the platform has completed 11 iterations,
attracting over 80,000 developers across 135 countries globally.
Baidu has tested its robotaxi service in five Chinese cities:
Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Changsha, and Cangzhou. To date,
Baidu's Level 4 autonomous test vehicles have completed over 10
million miles, and it says its robotaxi service, Apollo Go, will be
available in 65 cities by 2025 and 100 cities by 2030. It has also
developed an autonomous minibus, named Apolong, which has been in
production since 2018. The minibus has been deployed in 22 urban
parks in Chinese cities and has served 120,000 users while
travelling a total of 120,000 km. (IHS Markit AutoIntelligence's
Surabhi Rajpal)
Dongfeng Motor's autonomous technology arm, Dongfeng Yuexiang,
in cooperation with QCraft has developed and started trial service
of a driverless bus in Chinese city Wuhan, reports Gasgoo. The bus
has started limited trial operation on Wuhan's Economic and
Development District, transporting people from Chuanjiangchi Subway
Station to Amble Park. The companies will initially deploy a fleet
of 50 vehicles and in future aim to expand their fleet size to 300
vehicles. Being fully autonomous, the bus is designed without a
driver's seat and is powered by QCraft's autonomous vehicle (AV)
solution, Driven-by-QCraft. It features Level 4 autonomous
capability, navigating through various complex traffic scenarios.
(IHS Markit AutoIntelligence's Surabhi Rajpal)
China's Sinopec has increased its January paraxylene (PX) and
purified terephthalic acid (PTA) contract price nominations, while
decreasing its monoethylene glycol (MEG) ones, two sources said
late Thursday. (IHS Markit Chemical Market Advisory Service's Chuan
Ong)
Sinopec nominated its January PX at RMB6700/mt ($1,051/mt), its
PTA at RMB5000/mt, and MEG at RMB5200/mt.
This is a month-on-month increase of RMB200/mt for PX, up
RMB100/mt for PTA, but down RMB100/mt for MEG.
In comparison, Sinopec's December PX nomination was RMB6500/mt,
its PTA one was at RMB4900/mt, and MEG at RMB5300/mt.
Sinopec settled its December PX term contracts at RMB6125/mt or
RMB6105/mt on cash basis, its PTA at RMB4680/mt, and its MEG at
RMB5020/mt.
The company's contract nominations or offers are typically
adjusted near the end of the month, to derive actual settlement
prices for its term customers.
Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) and Foxwell have selected
Vestas to supply turbines for the 300MW second phase of Taiwan
Power Company offshore wind farm project. Vestas will deliver 31
units of V174-9.5MW turbines which will be mounted on jacket
foundations. This phase two of the project follows the development
of the 109.2MW phase one project which was completed this year. TPC
offshore wind farm phase 1 includes 21 unites of 5.2MW wind
turbines which are installed on a jacket with a transition piece,
anchored to the seabed by four steel pin piles. The project is due
to be commissioned in few weeks. (IHS Markit Upstream Costs and
Technology's Monish Thakkar)
McDonald's Co. Japan will put medium- and large-size serving
French fries back on the menu on 31 December after their sales were
suspended for a week due to a product shortage. US freight
forwarder Flexport Inc will fly three planes loaded with potatoes
to Japan. Sales will resume from 10:30 am on Friday 31 December. Mc
Donald's was forced to offer fries only in small sizes as potato
imports from North America were delayed by flooding near a
Vancouver port which has exacerbated the existing logistics
disruptions caused by the pandemic. (IHS Markit Food and
Agricultural Commodities' Cristina Nanni)
Hyundai plans to temporarily halt operations at its Asan plant
in South Korea for four weeks from 3 to 28 January to upgrade its
facilities to produce electric vehicles (EVs) at the plant from
next year, reports the Maeil Business Newspaper. The automaker
plans to resume operations at the 300,000-unit-a-year Asan plant,
which produces the Sonata and Grandeur sedans, on 3 February.
Hyundai also stopped production at the Asan plant for four weeks in
July for the facility's conversion. It plans to adjust the facility
to manufacture both conventional cars and EVs together without
adding new lines. The plant will be producing the IONIQ 6, which
the automaker plans to launch next year in line with its mid- to
long-term EV strategy. Recently, Hyundai Motor Group raised its
global EV sales target for 2026 to 1.7 million units from a little
over 1 million units. The South Korean automotive group, comprising
the Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands, has accelerated its
transition to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) with plans to double
its EV line-up to "at least" 13 models by 2026. In a bid to achieve
the target and to meet rising demand for EVs, Hyundai and Kia are
set to roll out several EVs in 2022: the Genesis GV60, an electric
version of the Genesis GV70, the Kia Niro EV, and the Hyundai IONIQ
6. IHS Markit forecasts that global production of Hyundai Motor
Group's light vehicles, including those of affiliate Kia, will grow
to around 7.8 million units in 2025, up from 6.2 million units in
2020. We also forecast that the group's global production of
alternative-powertrain vehicles will grow to around 2.1 million
units in 2025, up from about 617,200 units in 2020. Of the group's
total production of alternative-powertrain vehicles, EV production
will stand at around 893,000 units in 2025, up from 174,600 units
in 2020. (IHS Markit AutoIntelligence's Jamal Amir)
Amara Raja Batteries plans to invest an undisclosed amount in
InoBat Auto, a European technology developer and manufacturer of
batteries for e-mobility. According to a company statement, this
investment will enable Amara Raja to have access to expertise that
will support it in manufacturing batteries for e-mobility
applications. This will also open new research and development
(R&D) avenues for Amara Raja while allowing it to adapt
InoBat's battery technology to the markets that it already serves.
Marian Bocek, CEO of InoBat Auto, said, "Today's announcement is
strategically important for InoBat and its planned gigafactories
across various parts of Europe. It shows that unique collaborative
partnerships are vital for driving forward the uptake of E-mobility
solutions globally, including the emerging markets. Furthermore, it
paves the way for our further expansion and the application of our
own "cradle-to-cradle" approach." Amara Raja Batteries is one of
the largest Indian manufacturers of energy storage products for
both industrial and automotive applications. It supplies automotive
batteries to Ashok Leyland, Ford India, Honda, Hyundai, Mahindra
& Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, and Tata Motors. (IHS Markit
AutoIntelligence's Surabhi Rajpal)
Posted 31 December 2021 by Chris Fenske, Head of Capital Markets Research, Global Markets Group, S&P Global Market Intelligence
IHS Markit provides industry-leading data, software and technology platforms and managed services to tackle some of the most difficult challenges in financial markets. We help our customers better understand complicated markets, reduce risk, operate more efficiently and comply with financial regulation.