President-elect Donald Trump should focus on building out the midstream of the battery supply chain in the US, to reduce the risk of valuable recycled materials being sent overseas to be processed, JB Straubel, the founder of Redwood Materials, told the Benchmark Week 2024 conference. The US “could risk being a consumer and importer and […]
> Sibanye-Stillwater plans to re-purpose the Sandouville nickel refinery in northern France to produce battery precursor (pCAM), progressing the company’s strategy of increasing its downstream exposure to Europe’s battery supply chain. Acquired from Eramet in 2022, the Sandouville refinery’s hydrometallurgical flowsheet was due to be upgraded to produce battery-grade nickel sulphate from nickel matte, but has […]
> India’s pipeline of cathode active material (CAM) production capacity is set to grow more than 50-fold over the next decade. Altmin, Himadri Speciality Chemical, and Epsilon Advanced Materials have the largest pipeline capacities in the country. Almost all CAM capacity under development in India is for LFP, both due to the popularity of the cathode […]
> Lithium’s inherent volatility makes another price spike unavoidable this decade, according to experts speaking on the second day of Benchmark Week 2024 in Los Angeles. “We’ve seen this movie before,” remarked Anthony Tse, Founder of NEO Capital. “This is the third price cycle I’ve witnessed in over a decade in the industry, and the script […]
> Europe’s cathode active material supply is set to increase 360% between 2025 and 2030, supported by a growing number of facilities owned by non-European companies. Despite this growth, Benchmark forecasts that European CAM supply will remain lower than the region’s cell production, meaning gigafactories will depend on imports. Europe’s cathode scene today The key European […]
> The US electric vehicle (EV) market is entering a mass adoption phase, according to panellists at Benchmark Week 2024 in Los Angeles, in which infrastructure, policy, and affordability challenges will determine the industry’s trajectory over the coming years. “The thrust of electrification is relentless,” said Stephen Kosowski, Manager, Long Range Strategy & Planning at Kia North […]
> Following the continued evolution of the lithium ion battery supply chain, and as part of its rolling methodology review process, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence announces the opening of the 2025 annual public consultation period, for comment on Benchmark’s market-leading price assessment methodologies for lithium, nickel, cobalt, natural graphite, synthetic graphite, anode, cathode, black mass and rare […]
> On the 15th July, China’s Ministry of Commerce officially implemented restrictions on exports of technologies used in the production of high-density lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) cathode active materials (CAM), effective immediately. The export of some lithium processing technologies will also be restricted. Companies wishing to export these technologies for […]
> The US and China have agreed to cut respective tariffs by 115 percentage points following two days of talks in Switzerland. The cuts are set to come into force on the 14th May and will remain in place for the next 90 days. It marks a thawing of relations between the two countries amid a […]