BUSINESS
Nicolaas Steenkamp
Demand for lime products is set to increase in future as more modern technologies are developed.
IN THE LIME-LIGHT
Lime and lime-derived products are essential in the mining and agricultural industries, and demand is expected to increase in the near future, writes Nicolaas C Steenkamp.
Despite its importance, lime does not receive a great deal of attention in the mainstream financial media. More‘ glamourous’ commodities like copper, cobalt, and lithium have hit the headlines lately, especially with the development of typical Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies. Lime, however, is a key component of these commodity value chains.
Late last year, the copper price increased substantially on the back of a bullish outlook for the future of the electric vehicle( EV) market. Based on current figures, EVs will require three times the amount of copper that is required by fuel-driven engines. Several European countries are planning to replace most fuel engines with EVs in the next two or three decades. Add to this figure the amount of copper wiring that will be required for all the recharge docking stations, and the potential of copper in the near future increases exponentially.
One of the critical supply resources that are set to also benefit from the current uptick and anticipated future higher demand for copper, are lime products, specifically quicklime. The lithium used in the rechargeable batteries also requires
32 _ QUARRY SA | JULY / AUGUST 2018