As Noble Group focuses upon entrenching its position as the leading global industrial and energy products supply chain manager in Asia, we have been acutely aware of the need to ensure that we are a real force in bringing the next generation of emerging flows and products to market.
This has already been reflected in the manner in which the company has aligned its LNG business alongside its energy coal operations in Asia, thus optimising strategic relationships in the power sector and actively moving to ensure that it exploits the competitive advantages as the seaborne LNG market develops.
Similarly, the rare earths and special ores & metals groups have positioned themselves to emerge as significant participants in managing those flows that will benefit from trends such as the grid decarbonization and the new opportunities offered by the growing EV market.
Having spent three years growing its capabilities out of the base provided by the firm’s core competence in origination and supply chain management, it has now gained significant traction in these target markets, in which they are commercially active participants.
To formalise the work to date, and also to ensure that they exploit fully the growth that they envision, Novel Group is now re-organising these activities into two separate wholly owned subsidiaries, Kalon and Talaxis.
Kalon consolidates its existing platform for special ores & metals (principally chrome, manganese, tin and tungsten ores) into a dedicated vehicle aimed at growing the synergies upstream, while focusing our supply chain distribution network globally. Talaxis, on the other hand, focuses globally on cobalt, lithium and rare earths resources. In addition, Talaxis will be involved in the research and development of industrial applications related to energy solutions’ providers and permanent magnets’ consumers.
This approach enables them to maintain a focus on execution and accountability as well as emphasizing the specific skills that both businesses have. While both entities will benefit from having independent management teams, they will also continue to have access to the full suite of Noble Group’s operational capabilities. Operating through these two distinct, wholly owned, subsidiaries also enhances the range of growth options that will be open to us as the businesses develop.
As of today, their rare earths and special ores & metals businesses already operate long-term flows across a global footprint. It’s active in upstream origination in Jamaica, Malawi, Mongolia, Russia, Rwanda and South Africa. The downstream distribution network extends to Canada, China, Malaysia, Thailand, USA and Europe, and the teams now cover all the major industrial players across those sectors.
A Noble Group spokesman said: “As it stands, consumers of specialty metals and rare earth elements globally are often dependent today on the supply chains that have low resiliency. These two entities build on our track record of successfully creating new industrial supply streams that can support market participants’ needs, who are seeking alternative and more diverse sourcing solutions as a pre-requisite for their future development.”