Primetals Technologies, together with its partner Mitsubishi $8058 (-3,38%)the steel manufacturer voestalpine $VOE (-8,09%) and the mining group Rio Tinto $RIO (-4,97%) signed a cooperation agreement for the construction of an industrial-scale prototype plant for hydrogen-based iron production in Linz, Austria.

The aim of the partners is to drive forward the development of fluidized bed and smelting technologies that could lead to net-zero CO2 emissions in iron production. The plant, which is scheduled to go into operation in mid-2027, will be the first time that a hydrogen-based direct reduction plant for fine ore will be integrated with a smelting plant producing pig iron briquettes, pig iron and pig iron.

The prototype plant will combine two core technologies of Primetals Technologies - hydrogen-based fine ore reduction (HYFOR) and the smelter. HYFOR is the first DR technology for processing iron ore fines without agglomeration and has been in pilot operation at the voestalpine Donawitz site since 2021. The smelter uses renewable energy to melt and further reduce the direct reduced iron (DRI), producing pig iron with potentially zero CO2 emissions.

"This project represents a significant step forward in future-proof ironmaking - for the first time we will implement a continuous production process with hydrogen-based direct reduction," said Alexander Fleischanderl, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Green Steel at Primetals.

"The combination of HYFOR and Smelter is a highly innovative development that has the potential to change the industry, similar to how the LD converter (BOF) has impacted steel production. We are very proud to have voestalpine, Rio Tinto and Mitsubishi as strong partners and together we are able to play a key role in shaping the future of ironmaking with net CO2 emissions."

The new plant will have a capacity of three tons of pig iron per hour.

Mitsubishi, a strategic partner in the development, will support the expansion of the technology through its ferrous raw materials business. "Mining and trading of ferrous raw materials has been one of our core businesses for many decades, and we intend to develop a new range of low-emission metals to support the decarbonization of the steel industry," said Kenichiro Tauchi, COO of the Group's ferrous raw materials business.

"HYFOR and Smelter are promising new technologies to accelerate the decarbonization of the steel industry, and Mitsubishi Corporation is pleased to participate as a strategic partner of Primetals Technologies in the development of these breakthrough technologies together with leading partners in the steel supply chain."

voestalpine sees the project as being in line with its greentec steel strategy. "With greentec steel, voestalpine has a clear step-by-step plan for CO2-neutral steel production," says voestalpine CEO Herbert Eibensteiner.

"As a first step, a green electric arc furnace will be put into operation at both the Linz and Donawitz sites from 2027. By 2029, we will reduce our CO2 emissions by up to 30% compared to 2019. This corresponds to almost 5% of Austria's total annual CO2 emissions and makes greentec steel the largest climate protection program in Austria. Our long-term strategy is to achieve climate-neutral steel production with green hydrogen. Together with Primetals Technologies and Rio Tinto, we are taking a completely new and promising path in research into hydrogen-based pig iron production."

Rio Tinto, one of the world's largest iron ore producers, will supply 70% of the iron ore feedstock for the plant, sourced from its Pilbara operations, the Iron Ore Company of Canada and the future Simandou operations.

"We are pleased to join a consortium that covers the entire iron and steelmaking value chain," said Thomas Apffel, General Manager for Steel Decarbonization at Rio Tinto. "By contributing our ironmaking expertise and iron ore from the Pilbara, Iron Ore Company of Canada and the future Simandou operations, we aim to drive the development and adoption of fluidized bed technology. This fines-based ironmaking solution is a compelling alternative to shaft furnace technology as it eliminates the need for pelletization, which can offer significant benefits to both steelmakers and mining companies. Rio Tinto welcomes the addition of further participants to the consortium and looks forward to supporting the widespread adoption of this innovative technology."

The project has been supported by several EU and Austrian government initiatives. These include the Austrian Federal Government's "Transformation of Industry" program managed by Kommunalkredit Public Consulting (KPC), the "Twin Transition" initiative managed by Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws), the EU Coal and Steel Research Fund under the Clean Steel Partnership and the EU's Clean Hydrogen Partnership under the Hydrogen Valleys.

What is your opinion?

Yesterday I also did some research and for me it was:

• solid company
• beaten down to 52 weeks low
• DIV more than 5%

Result:

Election $RIO (-4,97%)
Election $MBG (-8,7%)

Now I've seen the article and Porsche too, actually...

Where do you currently see the best chances?

Yesterday was like Christmas for me. Many of the comments and statements I read reminded me of the corona crash of almost exactly 5 years ago. Of course, you can now wait and see what happens and do nothing for the time being, but my grandmother already knew that you should buy cyclical slow growers as low as possible. There are exciting entry opportunities in every market phase. Should there be a prolonged "tariff crisis", I see the non-manufacturing sector (e.g. Netflix), materials (e.g. Rio Tinto) and communications (e.g. Deutsche Telekom) as "safe havens".

For this reason, yesterday I took a hearty and joyful plunge into the falling knife and bought Rio Tinto shares from some shaky hand in the world.

Over the last few weeks, I have been looking at shares from a new perspective and have started to take a closer look at balance sheets and fundamental data. 🤯

Unfortunately, I still don't use a screener and have therefore only looked at the stocks that I am familiar with in some form.

In view of the tradable shares on the global market, this is certainly a big mistake and I have some catching up to do. Nevertheless, I would like to share some of my findings with you.

I have created two lists for this purpose.

On the lists you will find stocks that in my opinion have excellent fundamental quality characteristics.

The first list contains the absolute quality companies, some of which have already proven themselves over many years, and the second list contains companies that could still become such or have not yet proven themselves long enough and could therefore be a good long-term investment. The lists are neither correct nor complete and, depending on your point of view, some stocks belong on one list or the other, or perhaps not on any list at all.

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Quality companies:

• Visa$V (-6,95%)

Duopoly, very strong profit margin,

Risks: Google Pay/Apple Pay etc.

• Waste Management$WM (-2,07%)

Long-term contracts, strong balance sheet, regular share buybacks

• Stryker$SYK (-7,94%)

• Intuitive Surgical$ISRG (-9,69%)

• Novo Nordisk$NOVO B (-10,04%)

• Essilor Luxottica$EL (-6,99%)

Strong moat, good growth,

Weaknesses: low return on equity

• Hershey$HSY (-2,7%)

Solid cash flow, >50% return on equity,

Weaknesses: approx. 90 % of sales generated in the USA, trend towards healthier food

• ASML$ASML (-7,53%)

• Alphabet$GOOGL (-6,21%)

• Hermes$RMS (-4,74%)

• Wal-Mart de Mexico$WALMEX* (-6,11%)

The only retail food group I know of with a significant margin of

significant margin of >5%, stable growth and healthy balance sheet,

Growing middle class in Mexico and expansion in Central America.

Weaknesses: Mexican peso

• Lotus Bakeries$LOTB (-7,9%)

Continuous sales and profit growth, very nice balance sheet, but a high stock valuation

high stock valuation (like the vast majority in this list)

• Ferrari$RACE (-5,18%)

• Zoeties$ZTS (-7,42%)

Market leader, high margin, solid cash flow, growing dividend,

• Idexx Laboratories$IDXX (-7,07%)

Very nice growth stock with high customer loyalty, strong growth, >80%

return on equity, solid balance sheet,

• alliance$ALV (-3,43%)

• Microsoft$MSFT (-6,7%)

• Procter & Gamble$PG (-2,21%)

• Pepsi$PEP (-3,77%)

• Adobe$ADBE (-7,37%)

• L'Oreal$OR (-3,09%)

• Schneider Electric$SU (-7,07%)

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Opportunities and future quality Company?

• Rio Tinto$RIO (-4,97%)

• 3i$III (-2,58%)

• Main Street Capital$MAIN (-6,44%)

• Mutares$MUX (-2,85%)

• Altria$MO (-2,7%)

• Terna$TRN (-3,77%)

• Pfizer$PFE (-6,82%)

• Vinci$DG (-2,86%)

• Mercadolibre$MELI (-7,01%)

• Caterpillar$CAT (-8,46%)

• BAE Systems$BA. (-1,63%)

• Lululemon$LULU (-9,95%)

• Generali$G (-6,37%)

• Energiekontor$EKT (-5,99%)

• Vici$VICI (-5,23%)

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Thanks for reading and I look forward to additions, corrections and exchanges of opinion.

Are there any of the stocks mentioned that are of particular interest to you?

Has anyone delved particularly deeply into one or other stock?

Then have a nice weekend 🥳

I remain invested.

I have been asked on various channels how I $RIO (-4,97%) stand.

and if you're interested in the whole statement, watch the video voluntarily and without complaining ;). https://youtu.be/nD6LrV9ghs0?si=kK9XWFj_6BWxfq6w

Tranche 2 of 3

Norges Bank Investment Management will vote against a resolution calling on the mining group Rio Tinto $RIO (-4,97%) to review its two stock exchange listings in London and Sydney, according to the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund's website.

Rio Tinto shareholders will vote on the proposal by London-based hedge fund Palliser Capital and more than 100 other shareholders at the annual general meeting of the world's largest iron ore company on Thursday.

Norges Bank, the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, is the seventh-largest shareholder in London-listed Rio Tinto Plc with a 2.51% stake, according to data compiled by LSEG.

In February, Rio Tinto recommended that its shareholders vote against the resolution.

"Unification of the dual listed company (DLC) structure is not required to provide strategic flexibility to the group," the company said in March, following a comprehensive review of the structure.

Hello everyone,

I have looked at the stocks in my portfolio with my new but still incomplete knowledge of fundamental analysis and am of the opinion that some stocks are heavily overvalued.

Perhaps they will fall back to their fundamental value soon or at some point?

Yes, actually this is bound to happen in the long term.

So I'm wondering whether I should sell now and invest the capital in fundamentally favorable stocks or in my ETFs?

I also find it interesting that some stocks were already overvalued when I bought them and some only became overvalued later.

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In my opinion, some of the stocks in my portfolio are overvalued:

(not exhaustive)

Palantir $PLTR (-8,15%)

Ferrari $RACE (-5,18%)

Rheinmetall $RHM (+1,43%)

Agree Realty $ADC (-0,26%)

visas $V (-6,95%)

Hermes $RMS (-4,74%)

Microsoft $MSFT (-6,7%)

Nu 😅 $NU (-9,31%)

Asml $ASML (-7,53%)

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On the other hand, I think they are favorably valued at the moment:

(some are not really cheap, but maybe worth buying)

Amazon $AMZN (-9,25%)

Abc $GOOGL (-6,21%)

Sofi $SOFI (-11,64%)

Lockheed Martin $LMT (-3,26%)

Berkshire $BRK.B (-5,28%)

Caterpillar $CAT (-8,46%)

Occidental Petroleum $OXY (-12,21%)

Rio Tinto $RIO (-4,97%)

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I think I probably wouldn't regret it if I just sold everything and put it in the $HMWO (-6,09%) and put it in the But I enjoy individual shares and the risk is limited. Still, I would like to know how you read valuations and translate them into action decisions and what you think about my specific situation and would possibly act.

Rio Tinto Group $RIO (-4,97%)
$RIO (-2,71%) has held talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo about the possible development of one of the world's largest hard rock lithium deposits. This was reported by Bloomberg today. It is the latest sign of the mining giant's interest in the battery metal.

Talks with Congolese authorities in recent weeks have centered on Rio Tinto's potential involvement in converting the Roche-Dure resource into a lithium mine.

However, these discussions are still at an early stage and may not lead to a formal agreement, the report said. Development of the Roche-Dure resource could significantly increase the global supply of lithium, a key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries.

This move by Rio Tinto demonstrates the growing interest in lithium as demand for electric vehicles continues to rise. The Roche Dure resource represents a significant opportunity for the mining company to expand its battery metals activities.