Lithium-sulphur battery developer Lyten plans to invest $1 billion to build a gigafactory in Reno, Nevada, with the first phase of operation due to begin in 2027. The Stellantis-backed company’s next-generation battery pairs a graphene-sulphur conversion cathode with a lithium metal anode. This has the potential to significantly increase the energy density compared to traditional […]
> Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, specialising in battery supply chain research and insights, reports that 12.7GWh of new operational capacity entered operation in October 2025. Operational Capacity The grid-scale BESS market saw 12.7GWh of new capacity enter operations globally in October 2025, a y-o-y increase of 29%. China led new operational capacity with just under 8.8GWh of […]
> Vulcan Energy Resources, an Australian DLE (direct lithium extraction) developer operating in Europe, has signed an eight-year offtake agreement with commodity trader Glencore. Under this agreement Glencore will take 40,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide (35,200 tonnes LCE) over an eight-year period starting from when Vulcan Energy enters commercial production, towards the end of the decade. […]
> China has postponed the implementation of its expanded rare earth export controls announced in early October following high-level US-China trade negotiations in South Korea this week. It marks a temporary easing in what had become an escalating front in the tit-for-tat US–China trade confrontation. The announcement follows extensive economic and trade consultations in Kuala Lumpur, […]
> The next-generation battery landscape has progressed from start-up to scale-up, with more than 250GWh of pipeline capacity expected to be installed by the end of 2025 across a variety of emerging technologies, according to Benchmark’s New Technology Service. China has a dominant position in the two most developed of these technologies: sodium ion and solid-state. […]
> Lithium chemical prices spiked in China on Monday following a bullish speech by the chairman of Ganfeng – the world’s third-largest lithium producer – in which it was suggested that lithium demand growth could reach 30% in 2026. In a keynote speech on 16 November at the 10th International Summit on Power Battery Application in […]
> Benchmark has tracked over $50 billion of energy transition funding, throughout 2025 in its Energy Transition Capital database, with the largest share allocated to the battery supply chain. The role of debt, grants, and equity Debt The EV, battery, and battery materials markets have matured rapidly over the past few years. As a result, debt is playing an increasingly […]
> The lithium metal battery industry is nascent and rapidly growing with no country yet enjoying a dominant position. Upstream lithium metal production, however, is currently dominated by China, though this could change given the growth potential of the industry and technological advancements. Lithium metal has several industrial and aerospace applications and is used in primary […]
> Black mass markets in Q3 2025 were largely shaped by China’s lifting of import restrictions on 1 August, which re‑routed trade flows. Outside of China, this has created a two-tier market divided by compliance with Chinese custom’s quality controls. Compliant material commanded high premiums (79%–84%), while producers of non‑compliant batches struggled to clear material, trading […]