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Steelmaker SSAB to Invest €4.5 Billion in New Mini Mill in Northern Sweden – BNN Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — Swedish steelmaker SSAB AB will spend as much as 4.5 billion euros ($4.8 billion) on a new plant in Lulea, in the northern part of the country, that will help clean up one of the world’s dirtiest industries. 

The firm had been debating whether to go ahead with an investment at Lulea or at its Raahe facility in Finland. 

Steel is the world’s second-largest emitting sector after power generated from fossil fuels. The industry, which has relied largely on the same production techniques for more than a century, accounts for more global carbon emissions than shipping and aviation combined. SSAB is already producing a small amount of fossil-free steel and plans to be largely fossil free by the end of the decade. 

“We will remove 7% of Sweden’s carbon dioxide emissions, strengthen our competitive position and safeguard jobs,” Chief Executive Officer Martin Lindquist said in a statement. 

While the decision was expected, the total budget for the expansion was a surprise, Morgan Stanley analyst Alain Gabriel said in a research note to clients “and may be negatively viewed by the market in light of the significant spending needs over the next four years amid a lack of government support.”

Shares of SSAB fell as much as 4.9% at 9:36 a.m. in Stockholm on Tuesday, with volumes at more than five times the 20-day average.

The investment will save an estimated €2 billion in expenditures to upgrade existing facilities over the next decade. The new mill will be funded with SSAB’s own cash flow, and within its financial targets, the firm said. 

A fossil-free conversion is still planned in Raahe, SSAB said, depending on “SSAB’s financing and execution capacity, as well as the learnings from the Lulea project.”

The decision is a blow to the Finnish government and means the country won’t be carbon neutral by its target date of 2035 — ten years earlier than Sweden’s goal. That’s because SSAB’s blast furnaces at the Raahe steel mill are the single-biggest source of carbon spewed into the atmosphere from Finland.

The new Lulea mini-mill will have a capacity of 2.5 million tons of steel per year, the firm said. The supply of raw material will come from a mix of fossil-free sponge iron from the firm’s Hybrit demonstration plant in Gallivare and recycled scrap. 

It’s expected to begin operating at the end of 2028, reaching full capacity a year later. Environmental permits are expected by the end of this year, SSAB said. 

In 2023, SSAB decided to switch to fossil-free production at a plant at Oxelosund, also in Sweden, and that project is proceeding according to plan and will reduce Sweden’s CO2 emissions by a further 3%, the company said. 

–With assistance from Kati Pohjanpalo.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

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Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

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NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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