Chinese subsidy reforms will cool down the electric vehicle (EV) market and weigh on battery demand in the second half of 2019, Umicore chief executive officer Mark Grynberg said in a conference call on Wednesday July 31.
The Belgian battery raw materials producer maintained a forecast for stable or falling income in 2019 when it reported its results for the first half of the year on Wednesday. Profits were under pressure from slower demand for electric vehicles and lower prices for cobalt.The company faced "challenging market conditions" for the rest of 2019, Grynberg said. Umicore reported revenues of ?,?1.63 billion ($1.82 billion) in the first half of 2019, down by 3.0% year-on-year.Umicore maintained its forecast for full-year earnings before interest and taxation (Ebit) in the range...