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0	Chinese-owned companies are aggressively expanding cobalt mining in Congo and Indonesia even while prices crash, as they bid to raise market share of the metal used in batteries for the country's electric vehicle (EV) industry.
0	Chinese cobalt producers have seemed unfazed by oversupply that has knocked prices down by more than half in the past 18 months, with some said to benefit from state support for a sector seen as vital to China's EV industry, as well as firmer prices of metals with which cobalt is mined, such as copper.
0	China's CMOC Group, which boosted its cobalt output by 144% during the first three quarters of 2023, is now on track to become the world's biggest cobalt producer, overtaking commodity group Glencore.
0	CMOC is due to lift its market share of the global mined cobalt market from 11% in 2022 to nearly 30% by 2025, said Jorge Uzcategui, an analyst at consultancy Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
1	Its Kisanfu mine in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is partially owned by China's CATL, the world's largest battery maker for EVs.
0	The group is able to operate at low costs, likely helped by receiving cheap financing from the Chinese government, Uzcategui said.
1	CMOC is listed in Hong Kong, but according to its LinkedIn profile has "state-owned capital participation".
1	“Is CMOC trying to flood the cobalt market in an attempt to control a larger share of the market and oust the marginal producers, giving them more control over prices in the medium to long term? That is a possibility," said Uzcategui.
0	When contacted for comment about the impact of weaker prices on output, CMOC said that there were positive aspects to rising cobalt production, but it did not respond to a question about Uzcategui's comments.
0	"The growth of cobalt supply has to some extent dispelled downstream concerns about (its) sustainability," a CMOC spokesperson told Reuters.
0	"Our cobalt products are mainly sold through long-term contracts and are not subjected to short-term market fluctuation." China's MMG Group has also pressed on with expansion at its Kinsevere mine in Congo, while Jinchuan Group International Resources is likewise expanding its DRC cobalt output.
0	BOOM TO BUST Silvery-blue cobalt was once seen as an indispensable element of EV lithium-ion batteries, with prices soaring in May 2022 to four-year highs.
2	But EV sales have been slowing as inflation hits consumers and governments cut subsidies, while batteries without the mineral have been rising in popularity.
2	A combination of high prices and ethical concerns about child miners and unsafe conditions in Congo have prompted some battery companies to look for alternatives.
1	"Lithium is pretty fundamental to a lithium-ion battery... but with cobalt, you can design it out," said Alex Holland at consultancy IDTechEx.
0	Increasing nickel and cutting cobalt increases energy density, allowing longer driving ranges in EVs, he added.
2	While lower cobalt prices may revive use of higher-cobalt batteries, content of the metal in popular nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries has been declining, while lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries contain none at all.
0	INDONESIA HELPS OFFSET DELAYS Global refined cobalt supply is expected to climb 23% this year, creating a surplus of 74,800 metric tons by 2024, according to Morgan Stanley.
2	No. 1 producer DRC has kept miners under pressure to ramp up output to maintain the millions of dollars it receives each year in mining royalty and tax payments, analysts said - particularly with an election upcoming this month.
2	Analysts had expected at least some major cobalt producers to impose cutbacks, as happened recently in nickel to curb excess supply, but only scant action has materialised.
2	Jervois Global in March suspended the final construction of what would be the only U.S. primary cobalt mine, while debt-laden Miner Chemaf SA is up for sale, according to a document seen by Reuters in October, leaving two copper-cobalt projects in Congo 85% complete.
2	Major producer Glencore temporarily closed its Mutanda mine there in 2019 due to low prices and its CEO said in August it was considering similar action again, but output so far this year has shown no signs of cutbacks.
2	Glencore declined to comment on whether it planned to suspend any cobalt operations in the future, but depleting ore grades were likely to trim output at Mutanda, sources told Reuters.
0	Nonetheless, delays and cuts have been more than offset by new projects, including in Indonesia, which last year became the world's second biggest producer, with many owned by Chinese companies.
0	"Our view is that Indonesia is a game changer for cobalt,” said Bedder at Project Blue.
0	Indonesia is expected to roughly quadruple its production of cobalt in mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) by 2033 and may expand even further if all projects go ahead, Project Blue forecasts.
2	"In the next five years or so, we think they'll be oversupply in the market. So essentially that's going to mean prices are going to remain low for the foreseeable future," said Thomas Matthews at CRU.
2	BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen plans to slash administrative staff costs at its namesake brand by a fifth, management told staff on Wednesday, adding this would happen via partial and early retirement as opposed to layoffs.
0	The target is part of Volkswagen's push to cut costs at the VW brand by 10 billion euros ($10.8 billion) by 2026, having previously warned that high costs and low productivity were making its passenger cars uncompetitive.
2	Like other carmakers, Volkswagen has been hit by inflation, fierce competition from Asia as well as high labour and energy costs in Germany, requiring massive cost cuts to not fall further behind its rivals, including Tesla.
1	"What is crystal clear is that we will need to operate with fewer people in many areas at Volkswagen in the future," VW brand CEO Thomas Schaefer told employees according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.
1	"This doesn't mean more work for fewer people, but rather shedding old habits and saying no to duplicating efforts and inefficiencies," he said.
2	Other initiatives include reducing product cycles to 3 years from 50 months, cutting overall production times as well as scrapping a planned new 800-million-euro R&D site in Wolfsburg, the memo said.
0	Medical tools supplier Danaher said on Wednesday it has completed the $5.7 billion acquisition of Abcam, overcoming the initial opposition from the founder of the protein consumables maker.
0	Danaher agreed to buy Abcam in September for $24 per share to expand its portfolio of products and services, but founder Jonathan Milner opposed it saying the offer undervalued the company.
1	Milner, who owns a 6.14% stake, had said he would vote against the acquisition.
0	But he later suspended his campaign after talks with shareholders, who said the company was fairly valued.
1	Abcam's shareholder voted in favour of the deal in November.
1	Milner served as Abcam's CEO from 1999 to 2014 and later as deputy chairman from 2015 to 2020.
1	Cambridge, England-based Abcam manufactures and supplies so-called protein consumables such as antibodies and reagents used for medical research.
1	- Data infrastructure company VAST Data said on Wednesday it was valued at $9.1 billion after a funding round of $118 million, led by Fidelity Management & Research.
1	The fund-raise comes more than two years after its previous one, when an investment led by Tiger Global valued the company at $3.7 billion.
1	The company said it will use the funds from the latest round to develop a new category of data services for its business clients.
2	SAO PAULO, Brazilian airline Gol had its credit ratings downgraded by both S&P and Fitch after hiring a financial advisor to help it conduct a "broad review" to its capital structure as it struggles with high debt.
2	Fitch on Wednesday joined fellow credit rating agency S&P in cutting Gol's rating to 'CCC-' from 'CCC+' on risks related to the carrier's debt restructuring, further pushing it into speculative territory.
0	Gol last week announced it had hired Seabury Capital to assist it in a capital structure review that included addressing liability management, financial transactions and "other measures" to enhance its liquidity.
1	The carrier would also look into reprofiling its financial obligations as well as its fleet for the near and medium-term, according to a securities filing.
2	"The recurring free cash flow pressure from high leasing and interest expenses despite improving operating performance are resulting in an unsustainable debt profile," Fitch said in a note to clients.
2	Gol reported a net loss in the third quarter and reduced estimates for annual earnings amid delayed deliveries of Boeing aircraft.
2	"The hiring of a financial advisor may prompt a broader discussion of the company's capital structure, given weak prospects for cash flow generation and the dependence on refinancing in the next two years," S&P said on Tuesday, adding its outlook for the firm's rating was negative.
2	That outlook reflected a potential debt restructuring that the agency would view as distressed and tantamount to default, it said, although adding it expects the carrier to maintain "good operating performance amid healthy demand and a very rational supply in the Brazilian airline market." Gol's shares fell more than 9% on Monday before paring some losses the next day.
2	Among sell-side analysts, Citi had downgraded Gol earlier this month to "sell/high risk" noting that although the carrier's operating side was in a good place, that was not the case of its capital structure.
1	Goldman Sachs analysts said they would take no view on the potential outcome of the potential debt renegotiations, but added the move could be the first step towards a broad rearrangement of obligations with lessors and other suppliers.
0	That "could potentially alleviate pressure over balance sheet and short-term obligations," they added, noting that peer Azul had also announced a broad restructuring of its balance sheet recently.
0	Global equities rose on Wednesday after U.S. employment data reinforced investors' convictions that rates may soon start to fall, which has pushed down bond yields and lifted gold in the past few trading days.
0	The flow of trade across the markets was relatively calm, with measures of volatility steady around their recent lows, as investors waiting for a read of U.S. private sector job growth later in the day.
2	A separate look at job openings on Tuesday showed a bit more softness than expected but not so much as to point to a steeper slowdown in employment, while activity in the U.S. services sector held up last month.
0	U.S. Treasury yields held roughly around their lowest in three months, while futures markets show traders are placing a two-in-three chance of a rate cut by March, which in turn gave gold another boost and underpinned stocks.
0	The MSCI All-World was up 0.2%, while in Europe, the STOXX 600 rose 0.4%.
0	German's DAX, which contains a number of tech and industrial heavyweights, hit record highs.
0	Next up on the data front is the ADP survey of U.S. private sector employment, which is forecast to show a rise of 130,000 jobs in November, according to a Reuters poll.
2	"We are starting see increasing evidence that the U.S. jobs market is starting to slow, with vacancies falling to their lowest level since March 2021 and with the last two ADP reports adding a combined 202k new jobs as private sector hiring slows," CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael Hewson said.
0	"October saw 113,000 jobs added - an improvement on September - and November is expected to see an improvement on that to 130,000, given that a lot of additional hiring takes place in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and the Christmas period so we’re unlikely to see any evidence of cracking in the U.S. labour market this side of 2024," he said.
0	RATE-CUT BOUNCE U.S. stock futures pointed higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures up 0.2%.
0	U.S. 10-year yields were up 2 basis points at 4.187%, having hit their lowest since early September the day before.
2	The "selloff in yields across the curve is strong evidence of the intense focus the market has on this week's labour market data," with the ADP employment report due on Wednesday and non-farm payrolls on Friday, said IG analyst Tony Sycamore.
0	With markets all but certain the Fed's next move is a cut, dovish rhetoric from European Central Bank officials and the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to hold policy steady on Tuesday have stoked bets for a peak in rates globally.
1	The Bank of Canada is widely expected to adopt a wait-and-see attitude on Wednesday as well.
0	That has supported the U.S. currency's rebound from last week's nearly four-month low, with the U.S. dollar index steady around 104.00 on Wednesday, compared with a trough of 102.46 a week ago.
2	"The USD weakened when the Federal Reserve looked like they were cutting while other central banks were holding tight," said James Kniveton, a senior corporate FX dealer at Convera in Melbourne.
0	"Now that looks to be changing, and other central banks are following the Fed's lead." Against the yen, the dollar rose 0.14% to 147.31 and rose a touch against the euro to $1.0778.
0	Bitcoin edged up 0.2% to $44,175, having risen to as much as $44,490 overnight, buoyed by both Fed rate cut expectations and speculation U.S regulators will soon approve exchange-traded spot bitcoin funds.
0	Gold rose 0.3% to $2,025 an ounce, stabilising after Monday's surge to a record $2,135.40.
2	Crude fell another 1% on Wednesday to five-month lows, against a backdrop of a worsening demand outlook from China and doubts about the impact of OPEC cuts.
2	Brent crude futures fell 0.9% to $76.51 a barrel, while U.S. futures fell 0.88% to $71.51.
1	Microsoft (MSFT) on Wednesday will begin another round in court in its multi-chapter legal defense against the FTC over its $69 billion purchase of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard.
1	Microsoft finalized the deal, the largest ever in the gaming market, on Oct. 13.
1	A court hearing in the agency's appeal of a failed injunction request is set to take place Wednesday in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
2	In July, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suspended its administrative challenge to block the acquisition.
2	The suspension came after a federal district court judge and a three-judge federal appellate court panel declined to grant the FTC a preliminary injunction that would have kept the tie-up from moving forward while the agency completed an investigation into antitrust concerns.
0	Microsoft later reached an agreement with the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to relinquish certain cloud gaming rights contained in its original plan, paving the way for the deal to close.
1	In its original complaint to block the deal, the FTC said that Microsoft's ownership of Activision "would enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business." Those concerns stem in large part from the fact that the merger of the two companies makes Microsoft the third-largest video game company in the world by revenue behind Sony (SONY) and Tencent.
1	Microsoft published a statement on Tuesday arguing the FTC should drop its challenge, pointing to 37 venture capital firms that joined together to file a "friend of the court" to endorse the deal.
2	In the filing, Microsoft described the FTC’s legal position as a "watered-down" stance that would give the agency too much power to block transactions.
0	Support from the venture firms, the company said, "sent a clear message" that the FTC's opposition "threatens the cycle of investment and entrepreneurship that drives America’s innovation economy." Although the FTC can continue to fight the deal, courts generally shy away from unraveling integrated companies.
1	The FTC has also said it intends to continue scrutinizing the deal using its internal administrative process.
1	"The FTC's been down that road," Brian Quinn, a Boston College Law School professor, told Yahoo Finance.
1	"The remedies available include taking apart the merged companies, and that's also the remedy that nobody wants to do. No court wants to be in charge of taking a deal apart." The protracted legal battle comes amid an aggressive push by the Biden administration over the course of the year to challenge Big Tech's dominance in various markets.
2	The FTC argued in a court filing in November that Microsoft's acquisition would harm consumers by restructuring the gaming industry and likely giving Microsoft the ability and incentive to deny, delay, degrade, or foreclose rivals from accessing Activision's games.
2	"If Microsoft is given free rein to weaponize Activision's content, emerging markets for content library subscriptions and cloud gaming will be walled off and dominated by just a few large companies," the FTC wrote in its court filing.
2	In addition to its pressure on Microsoft, the FTC and US Justice Department have brought or continued antitrust suits against Google (GOOG, GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Facebook (META).
1	Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance.
1	Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexiskweed.
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1	Uranium producer enCore Energy said on Wednesday it will sell 30% of its Alta Mesa project in South Texas to Australia's Boss Energy for $70 million.
1	Alta Mesa has an annual production capacity of 1.5 million pounds of U3O8, a uranium compound also known as yellowcake, commonly processed to serve as fuel for nuclear reactors.
1	Boss Energy will pay $60 million in cash, invest $10 million into enCore shares at $3.90 per share, and loan the company up to 200,000 pounds of yellowcake for enCore's commercial use over the next year.
0	enCore will use the net proceeds from the deal, which is expected to be completed in February 2024, to accelerate its uranium production pipeline in South Texas and develop other projects.
0	"The accelerated production plan is designed to take advantage of what is projected to be a very strong uranium market over the next decade," said enCore Executive Chair William Sheriff.