Tsingshan may be reeling from the nickel crisis, but Muchadeyi Masunda, the chairman of one Zimbabwe-based company, Bindura Nickel Corporation, told VOA he was feeling “bullish” and hoped BNC would “get some of this windfall.” However, in a brief statement posted to the company’s website Tuesday, the group said it had “reached an agreement with a consortium of hedge bank creditors on a standstill arrangement.” On Wednesday, Reuters reported the giant had reached a deal with two unnamed companies to close out the short positions it holds. An email to the Chinese Embassy in Harare also went unanswered. “At this stage of the situation we can only assume that it’s a setback and not a real long-term problem since we haven’t measured the real impact of its losses yet.”Įmails to Tsingshan’s headquarters by VOA went unanswered, while Benson Xu, the managing director of the company’s subsidiary in Zimbabwe, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. “This would be bad news for Zimbabwe, which has high expectations for this project,” he added. However, Christian Geraud Neema Byamungu, a policy and mining analyst and an editor at the China Africa project, said the losses incurred by Tsingshan “could delay its operations in Zimbabwe for a short period of time.” Mutsvangwa stressed that the Zimbabwe projects “are funded from the core capital budget of the stainless-steel business … definitely NOT London Metal Exchange commodity derivative margin trades.' The Wenzhou-based company, which recorded $19 billion in revenues last year, is building a massive $1 billion iron-ore mine and carbon steel plant in Zimbabwe with a capacity of 1.2 million tons.Īsked by VOA on Wednesday if she is concerned the company’s potential losses will halt or slow the developments in her country, Zimbabwe Minister of Information Monica Mutsvangwa was emphatic. The market turmoil has been bad news for Tshingshan, the world’s largest supplier of nickel, which like many Chinese mining companies has considerable interests in Africa - specifically nickel-rich Zimbabwe. The price fell back somewhat when the market reopened Wednesday, but the exchange quickly suspended trading again, saying it was investigating a technical error.

Now nickel - a prime component in batteries - has the markets in turmoil and one Chinese company facing billions of dollars in losses.Ĭhinese nickel giant Tsingshan Holding Group Co wagered that nickel prices would fall, but instead, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent the commodity’s trading prices through the roof last week, driven by concerns about disruptions to the Russian company Nornickel, one of the world’s largest suppliers.Īt one point the price surged by 250%, prompting the London Metal Exchange (LME) to suspend trading. Whether it’s scrolling on a mobile phone or commuting to work in an electric car, nickel is a key part of these high-tech devices. It is a metal found in products used by people worldwide, unthinkingly every day.

Nickel cobalt