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Technology Stocks : VALENCE TECHNOLOGY (VLNC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Curtis who wrote (24382)	6/9/2001 7:34:14 PM
From: MGV	Respond to of 27311

Did you hear that "da fraud?" He was speaking to you.

To: John Curtis who wrote (24382)	6/11/2001 8:47:30 AM
From: ikonoklast53	Respond to of 27311

Health and enviromental issues loom over cobalt. Valence's phosphate cathode material is the solution for battery makers. Wake up Japan! <ggg> ------------------------------- Health concerns threaten growth of cobalt market NICE, France, June 11 (Reuters) - Global supply and demand for cobalt continue to grow but the metal faces health and environmental problems, Michael Hawkins, general manager of the Cobalt Development Institute (CDI) said on Monday. "The threat that the industry faces is in the health and safety environment," Hawkins told Metal Bulletin's Minor Metals seminar in Nice. He said the industry itself needed to supply good quality data and scientific research on potential toxicity of cobalt products, otherwise legislators will make decisions by default, which will of necessity err on the side of caution. Prospects are otherwise sound, with demand globally approaching the 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes a year level. "Cobalt is used in many areas now. Substitution is not a problem, and can be done, but there will be a downgrade in efficiency in many areas," Hawkins said in a presentation. DEMAND NEEDS TO EXPAND More cobalt is coming into the market within the next four to five years so there is a need to increase demand. There is less volatility in prices now, after the roller-coaster performance of the last 20 years, and demand is growing. In the important super-alloy sector which accounts for 26 percent of demand, the increase in the number of aircraft population will underpin usage. "It is difficult to predict the growth rate, but it could be five percent a year" he said. Another segment of the super-alloy market is prosthetics, and although this is a relatively small application growth could be 10 to 15 percent. Other growth will emanate from batteries, catalysts, and specialty chemicals. PRODUCTION TO CARRY ON GROWING On the supply side, output has risen from around 10 major producers in 1981 who accounted for 26,000 tonnes a year to some 36,000 tonnes from 16 suppliers now. "In future, the number of producers is likely to increase," Hawkins said. Whereas in the 1980s, nickel-based operators accounted for 26 percent of cobalt output, this percentage has risen to 41 percent. With nickel-based operators, the cobalt is automatically produced as a by-product, so there is no barrier to cobalt supply from these quarters, he said. 06:23 06-11-01