March 6, 2025: Trading house Trafigura has secured a renewed $300 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of Korea for battery-related metals supply.

Trafigura said on March 3 the renewed three-year facility will help it keep a “stable supply” of critical minerals such as cobalt, copper and lithium flowing to South Korea — which has been ramping up support for the country’s battery sector following a global slump in EV sales.

The loan renewal was coordinated by Spain’s Banco Santander and co-financed with Singapore’s DBS Bank.

Trafigura’s chief financial officer for Asia Pacific, Andrew Starkey, said the battery metals market was complex and rapidly evolving amidst shifting geopolitical dynamics. 

He said the group was uniquely positioned to provide South Korean industrial companies with secure access to critical minerals 

The facility was initially put in place in December 2021 and increased in May 2023. 

A Trafigura official contacted by Batteries International declined to comment on whether the loan funding also covered the provision of lead from for the lead battery market.

However, the spokesperson confirmed that Trafigura’s group-wide operations in the market for lead continue.

Trafigura’s portfolio includes the German lead plant Stolberg, acquired in 2023, which is operated by the group’s Nyrstar business.