not vested
Glencore PLC (OTC: GLCNF), for example, is the world's largest cobalt miner - producing a whopping 20% of the global supply. But the company also mines significant quantities of copper and nickel. So it is not a "pure play" on cobalt.
Nevertheless, I consider Glencore to be the best one-stop shop for electric metals. Among the major diversified mining companies, Glencore offers the highest exposure to battery technology commodities, with copper, cobalt and nickel accounting for about half of the company's gross earnings.
Due to the company's cobalt production, it is benefitting already from the EV boom. But since Glencore also mines copper, manganese and nickel, it stands to benefit immensely in the future, as EV demand for these metals continues pushing their prices higher as well.
And EVs aren't the only "green" products that require electric metals. Wind energy, for example, uses five times more copper per unit of electrical energy than does conventional coal burning. Photovoltaic solar power uses six times more copper per unit of electrical energy. The nascent energy storage industry could become another major source of demand for electric metals.
The research team at J.P. Morgan just revised its 2018 earnings estimates for Glencore from $5.5 billion to $6.7 billion - a jump of 20%.
I believe the new estimate is still too low based on the current strength of the base metals markets and the likelihood that prices for electric metals will continue trending higher.
Glencore stock has advanced around 35% since my recommendation. But I still consider it to be a very attractive long-term "Buy" and one of the very best ways to play the EV revolution.
Sourfce: Energy & Resources Digest