10th Moscow conference: Gilbert Kabanda reaffirms the DRC's determination to put an end to the war in the East
During the 10th Moscow Conference in Russia, on international security, which is being held from August 15 to 18, the Minister of National Defense and Veterans, Gilbert Kabanda Kurhenga, expressed the DRC's determination to take up the challenge of insecurity in the Great Lakes sub-region and this, in the presence of 300 delegates from 40 countries.
"The DRC wants to play its role as a stabilizer to put an end to twenty-five years of insecurity imposed on it on its territory, and to become the natural world leader in the fight against global warming, through its possession of strategic raw materials, while guaranteeing the interests of each other”.
At the same time, he pleaded for multifaceted support from Russia and all the participating countries, the immediate objective being to mobilize and obtain the necessary means for the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC ).
According to him, this support will make it possible to expand operations against armed groups, negative forces, terrorist groups and their active allies in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri where they commit massacres.
However, the DRC has enough human and material potential to put at the service of its people, but the persistence of the activism of hostile forces is delaying its development and threatening international security.
He also welcomed the good historical relations that have existed for 62 years between the two countries and especially Russia's regular support to the United Nations Security Council for the safeguard of the sovereignty of the DRC.
Chinese power outage could sting lithium buyers, push prices 10pc higher
The lithium sector can’t seem to catch a break with China’s heatwave now expected to cause further havoc on the supply chain.
Lithium producers in the Sichuan province,
home to factories of some of the world’s biggest companies and the producer of about half the country’s lithium, have either suspended production or lowered their operating rates in response to the power crunch, sources told Fastmarkets.
“We have halved our production due to the power rationing in Sichuan province,” a lithium producer source said.
Underlining the seriousness of the power crunch, a second lithium producer source in the province said: “The city where our factories are based have rarely experienced power shortages before – this is the first time that we have halted production due to power rationing.”
A third lithium producer source said: “Our production has been suspended since Monday August 15 and prior to this, we were required to stagger our electricity consumption.”
In an interview with
Stockhead, VP Capital co-founder John So says in in the short term there will be a supply squeeze in terms of downstream lithium coming out of China, which will push up prices for processed lithium elsewhere in the world.
“This will also push up raw lithium prices because Sichuan is a mining hub for lithium in China – I don’t expect this to go on for months because by October the weather will reverse in the northern hemisphere,” he says.
“We will continue to see these sorts of outages in August and intermittently in September as well.
“Other provinces in China are also talking about potentially curbing power supply to some of the industrial companies and factories – so expect to see more of this over the next two months.
“Lithium is going to be in shortage in China, and all the data is indicating that electric vehicle demand is on the upside and is a lot stronger than what most may think despite what appears to be a general slower economic environment.
“With high unexpected demand and short-term supply crunch, we may see prices go up another 10 per cent in the next few weeks.”
EV and battery factories shut down as China faces worst heatwave in six decades
Toyota and CATL announce factory closures in China as a scorching heatwave sweeps the country
CNN’s Selina Wang says China’s major manufacturing hub, Sichuan province, has ordered all factories to shut down production for six days to ease a power shortage as China continues to deal with its worst heatwave in six decades.
Temperatures have soared above 40 degrees Celsius, causing a spike in demand for air conditioning and added pressure on the power grid.
Sichuan is home to factories of some of the world’s biggest companies such as Apple supplier Foxconn, Toyota, and battery marker Contemporary Ampertex Technology Co (CATL) – one of Tesla’s key suppliers.
Wang says this could potentially have a knock-on effect for the global economy.
“This is a key province because it is rich in minerals like lithium and polysilicon, and is a key manufacturing location for the semiconductor and solar industry so shutting down the factories for a week…could tighten the supply of polysilicon and lithium which could potentially push prices higher,” she says.