Unidentified Company Representative: I’d like to comment on nickel. I think that as I mentioned earlier, Nicole met, I think that we got all the permissions and we have broken ground and we are building currently really fast and also MHP business. In Indonesia we didn’t have any issues regarding approval and permission. And with regard to [indiscernible] cash call, I find it difficult to share with you the concrete numbers. But when it comes to cost analysis, compared to our competition, I think that we are producing [indiscernible] at a very low price. It’s like $1,000 cheaper compared to our competition. So we believe our product will be very competitive. And with regard to JV partner, I think that we will be able to disclose the name of the JV partner at an appropriate time in the future. Thank you.
Operator: We will take the last question. And last question will be coming from Ms. [indiscernible] Investment and Securities. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Analyst: So Hello, I’m [indiscernible] Investment and Securities. I have a question about Argentina. Since we are at 4,000 meters sea level, I heard that there are some costs associated with it, so I was wondering about the transportation costs. Since we don’t know about the road situation in Argentina, I was wondering what you’re doing with your transportation costs and what is the expected cost of transportation in Argentina. And secondly, you said you also have a lot of the long-term contracts as well. So could you give some ideas about the spot prices in terms of those long-term prices as well and what would be the focus on the nickel prices as well?
Unidentified Company Representative: So actually as for the shipping and the transportation cost and as for the logistics route, we are working with another POSCO subsidiary, so we’re trying to develop the optimal route for transportation. There are two ways to go from high altitude. 1 is to go straight from Chile. There is the way of also going through Buenos Aires of Argentina by ship. When you are in the ocean, as for the transportation cost, it is really not that different from the previous transportation cost using ships. But when you’re going from the high altitude to the marine areas, so when you’re going from the Salt Lake to Chile and to Buenos Aires, when we calculated the transportation cost, it’s quite rough, but it was slightly over $300.
But as for the accurate number, we are still in the process of calculation. But still, as compared to the actual lithium price, the transportation cost is not too burdensome. And as for the long-term contract for lithium, before 2019, we used to have five to 10 year deep discount to a long-term contract. But since 2020, as we’re the existing lithium business owners, we don’t take it for too long. Some we will sell at spot and some we have around three to five year contracts. And as for us, our plan is the following. And together with our group company Future M we’re going to prioritize supply, so we’re going to prioritize the volume that we need first. And generally, we can have a contract that goes even more than 10 years if necessary. So we are right now in the preparation of making the contract.
So if possible, we want to have more than 70% of the volume as a long-term contract that lasts more than five years or 10 years. And only some we will have spot contracts and be responding to the market in terms of the market condition. And as for the price of nickel, it’s around $18.3K. And until second quarter, the price of nickel, actually it’s for nickel sulfite, until last year we had around $2,000 premium. But at the first half this year in China, with regards to nickel certified, there was a supply. Therefore, it went to a negative value. But in October, As for the price of nickel sulfide, we are seeing a plus $1,000 premium. And as for nickel in EV, we are seeing a stable position. But for the current price, the long-term projection that we have was $20,000, but as for until 2025 to 2026, we are expecting it to be around $19,000, and that is the forecast in the market.
Unidentified Company Representative: So we would like to thank all the participants who have joined us today. So we have faced some economic difficulties. However, POSCO is focusing on long-term growth strategies without faltering. And now we will conclude the 2023 Third Quarter Earnings Release Conference Call. Thank you.
