Auquan's Weekly Wrap | 25 - 29 July: What you might have missed
Recap of the week's market activity: EV Vertical Integration, Brazil Illegal Gold Mining, Electronics Profit Pressure, Skittles Health Concerns Lawsuit, UK Fashion Retail Green Claims Investigation, and more.
Top Themes
EV Vertical Integration
Source: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images Files.
EV-makers' upstream partnerships are helping them establish sufficient supply of raw materials for EV batteries. These include agreements with mining companies - achieving short and long-term metals contracts, and investing in mining companies or strategic mining projects.
- EV-Makers Connect With Miners
- Ford goes directly to miners for lithium, nickel supply to support EV ambitions
- Automakers ramping up investments into upstream nickel, cobalt
Brazil Illegal Gold Mining
A wildcat gold miner uses a basin and mercury to pan for gold at a wildcat gold mine, also known as a garimpo, at a deforested area of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, August 5, 2017. Source: Reuters/Nacho Doce.
Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Google name private Italian firm Chimet as a source of some gold used in their products in their filings. Brazilian federal police have accused Chimet of buying millions of dollars in gold from trader CHM do Brasil, which allegedly acquired the precious metal illegally from wildcat miners. This comes off the back of illegal gold mining surging to new record last year in Brazil’s biggest Indigenous reservation, with reports of chilling accounts of abuses by miners, including extorting sex from women and girls.
- Illegal Brazil gold tied to Italian refiner and Big Tech customers
- Brazil's largest indigenous reservation overrun by illegal gold mining, says report
- Illegal mining, abuses surge on Indigenous land in Brazil: Report
Inflation Crisis: Electronics Profit Pressure
Source: Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon.
Lockdowns and rising material costs have curtailed factory output for the likes of Panasonic, Philips and Logitech. This coupled with inflation and lower consumer confidence resulted in all suffering from squeezed profit margins in their earnings this week.
- Panasonic posts 39% drop in Q1 operating profit, misses estimate
- Logitech's quarterly profit slumps 38% as pandemic demand wanes
- Philips misses Q2 forecasts, cites supply chain issues and China lockdowns
Themes to Watch Out
UK Fashion Retail Green Claims Investigation
Source: Reuters/Dado Ruvic.
Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will launch investigations into three fashion brands, ASOS, Boohoo and George at Asda, to dig deeper into their eco-friendly and sustainability claims as it scrutinises for "greenwashing" evidence. The fashion products investigated will include clothing, footwear and accessories - as part of a bigger step to address the consumer concerns around the way the fashion companies market their products as eco-friendly.
- UK probes fashion groups ASOS, Boohoo, Asda over 'green' claims
- ASOS, Boohoo and Asda investigated over fashion 'green' claims
Cement Industry Energy Costs Concerns
Source: Reuters/Ralph Orlowski.
With the unprecedented outlook on increasing energy prices, some cement companies like HeidelbergCement are expecting lower profits while some look for strategies to compensate their losses from higher input costs. Despite Holcim's successful earnings, the outlook for the industry remains bleak with higher energy costs impacting the broader industry.
- HeidelbergCement lowers profit outlook on high energy costs
- Holcim stock surges after cement maker raises sales outlook
- BUA Cement’s energy costs rises by 65% to N43.58 billion in H1 2022
Skittles Health Concerns Lawsuit
Source: Brett Hondow/Shutterstock.
Experts and food regulators point to potential, serious health consequences and rising concerns about the titanium dioxide. The toxin appears in a number of other food items and consumer goods, including Great Value ice cream, Chips Ahoy! cookies (owned by Mondelez International), and Lucerne brand cottage cheese, and from August 7, its use in food will be banned in the EU.
- Are Skittles Toxic? What to Know About Food Additive Titanium Dioxide
- Skittles class action highlights other foods that also contain titanium dioxide
- Everything You Need To Know About The Skittles Lawsuit And Titanium Dioxide
- Skittles was sued for containing titanium dioxide. Plenty of other products have it too
- Skittles lawsuit claims ‘toxin’ makes them ‘unfit for human consumption’
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