Green Markets - August 22, 2024

Aug 22, 2024

Green Markets is a daily series dedicated to highlighting events of interest that could impact investments within environmental markets.

Hindalco Industries, part of the Aditya Birla Group, announced plans to invest $10 billion to expand its operations in India and the U.S.-based aluminum recycler Novelis. The investment will support ongoing and new projects, including the Novelis Bay Minette project in the United States, as well as the expansion of Hindalco's aluminum and copper capacities. The company is also exploring a brownfield facility in Gujarat for copper smelting. However, no timeline was provided for the delayed initial public offering of Novelis, which is Hindalco's largest revenue contributor.
Rio Tinto and Teck Resources are preparing for operational disruptions due to a labor dispute that has led to a lockout of over 9,000 workers at Canada's two largest railway companies. To mitigate the impact, Rio Tinto is increasing its use of trucking and its own rail networks. The disruption is expected to mainly affect its iron ore and aluminum businesses. Teck Resources is also seeking alternative transportation methods to reduce the impact on its operations.
- Note: I see early reports that the Canadian government is forcefully stopping this strike already.

Brazil's development bank, BNDES, and government funding agency Finep are providing $1.1 billion in financing to support the local production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and other sustainable fuels. This funding includes subsidized interest rates for various project expenses.
Caramuru Alimento S.A. has partnered with Biocen - Bioenergia Celeiro do Norte S.A. to form a joint venture to develop a $200 million corn-based ethanol plant in Brazil. The plant will have an initial processing capacity of 605,000 metric tons of corn annually, with operations expected to begin by mid-2026.

Chevron has secured a greenhouse gas (GHG) assessment permit offshore Western Australia, adding to its carbon capture and storage (CCS) portfolio. This initiative, a joint venture with Woodside, expands Chevron's CCS capabilities, complementing their existing Gorgon CCS project, which has already captured and stored 10 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

Related Stock List(s): Carbon Capture Stocks

A major scandal involving Germany's compliance carbon market has led to the insolvency of companies and a significant loss of trust in emissions-reduction projects. Allegations have emerged that numerous emissions-reduction projects in China, funded by German firms, were either falsified or misrepresented. The scandal has prompted German authorities to suspend all emissions-reduction projects in China, and any new projects from anywhere- to launch investigations into regulatory failures.

For the first time, BMW has surpassed Tesla in European battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales, selling 14,869 BEV cars in July, around 300 more than Tesla. The overall EV market saw a decline in sales, with total registrations down 6% from the previous year, and Tesla's sales dropping by 16%.

NEOM Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC) has initiated a significant recruitment drive for its $8.4 billion green hydrogen plant in Saudi Arabia's NEOM city, as the project approaches its operational phase. The plant is expected to produce up to 600 tons of hydrogen daily by the end of 2026.
Sinopec Group has partnered with over a hundred Chinese state-owned companies to advance green hydrogen production and build a supply chain in China. The alliance, which includes significant firms like China Energy Investment Corp. and State Grid Corp., aims to address challenges in storage and transportation from renewable energy regions to industrial areas.
Hystar, a Norwegian PEM electrolyzer company, has awarded ThyssenKrupp Automation Engineering a contract to supply a 4.5 GW electrolyzer manufacturing line for its Høvik gigafactory.

Related Stock List(s): Hydrogen Stocks

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Board of Directors has approved an additional $150 million in funding for developing nuclear small modular reactors (SMRs) near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, bringing the total investment to $350 million. TVA is investing nearly $16 billion by 2027 to expand generation capacity and infrastructure, including constructing 3,500 MW of new power generation.
Brazil's Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB) is set to resume uranium exploration after a 40-year break, launching a new Uranium Prospecting and Mining Partnership Programme. Brazil, which currently has substantial uranium resources, is looking to increase production to meet domestic needs and potentially export uranium or nuclear fuel.

The U.S. Plastics Pact has released three "Design for Circularity Playbooks" to guide the sustainable management of plastics in the U.S. These playbooks focus on recyclability, reuse, and compostability, providing detailed guidelines to optimize plastic packaging for recycling systems, develop reusable packaging, and create compostable materials. The playbooks are part of the U.S. Plastics Pact's broader efforts to achieve its sustainability goals outlined in its strategic plan, Roadmap 2.0.
Honeywell has partnered with Beijing Hinergy Qingyuan Technology to deploy its UpCycle Process Technology in a new plastic recycling facility in Shandong Province, China. The facility aims to recycle up to 30,000 tons of mixed waste plastics annually into recycled polymer feedstock (RPF).
LyondellBasell (LYB) has agreed to acquire APK AG, a German company specializing in solvent-based recycling technology. APK's technology focuses on recycling hard-to-recycle flexible plastics, particularly low-density polyethylene (LDPE). The acquisition aligns with LYB's goal to produce and market 2 million metric tons of recycled and renewable-based polymers annually by 2030.

Related Stock List(s): Recycling Stocks

AQR Capital Management LLC has attracted $350 million for its Adaptive Equity Market Neutral UCITS Fund, which aims to blend ESG investing with strong returns. The fund will short stocks with poor ESG profiles and invest in those with better ESG scores.

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