SOVEREIGN SIGNS OFFTAKE MOU FOR PREMIUM-PRICED RUTILE SALES TO THE WELDING SECTOR
- MoU signed for supply of 25,000 tonnes of natural rutile per annum to Hascor, a market leading global processor and distributor of rutile products for the welding industry
- Pricing of rutile for welding generally attracts significant premiums to bulk rutile prices in the titanium pigment sector
- Hascor to provide Sovereign with strategic advice on marketing and product development
- Kasiya continues to attract significant offtaker interest as the largest undeveloped natural rutile project in the world and first major rutile discovery in over half a century
Sovereign Metals Limited (ASX:SVM; AIM:SVML) (the Company or Sovereign) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hascor International Group™ (Hascor) for potential supply of 25,000 tonnes of natural rutile per annum from the Company’s Kasiya Rutile Project (Kasiya) in Malawi to Hascor’s processing plants and clients across five continents.
The MoU contemplates a supply agreement to cover an initial five-year period from commencement of nameplate production for potential 25,000 tonnes per annum of natural rutile to Hascor and their existing clients. Volumes may be varied up or down by mutual agreement. Pricing at commencement will reference market prices to the welding sector subject to agreed price variations through the supply term.
Hascor is a multinational ferroalloy and metal powder supplier. The group is a key processor and global distributor of natural rutile products for the welding industry with production and distribution centres across five continents.
This maiden MoU is part of Sovereign’s product marketing strategy as the demand and pricing for natural rutile are both very strong as the global structural deficit in supply continues to widen. The premium chemical parameters of Kasiya’s natural rutile produced indicates the product is suitable for all major end-use markets including welding, TiO2 pigment feedstock and titanium metal.
Sovereign’s Managing Director Dr Julian Stephens commented: “We are very excited to have signed this MoU with a major rutile supplier like Hascor about a future offtake agreement and to provide input on marketing for our premium rutile products from Kasiya. Hascor is a market leader in natural rutile product development and distribution for the welding industry across five continents. The offtake MoU with Hascor points to the quality and strategic nature of our world-class Kasiya Rutile Project.”
The MoU is non-exclusive and non-binding and remains subject to negotiation and execution of a definitive agreement to give effect to the MoU. The MoU will expire on 31 December 2023 but can be extended by agreement by both parties should a definitive agreement not have been reached by that time.
ENQUIRIES
Dr Julian Stephens (Perth)
Managing Director
+61(8) 9322 6322
Sam Cordin (Perth)
+61(8) 9322 6322
Sapan Ghai (London)
+44 207 478 3900
