The Volkswagen Group has invested C$69 million (US$48 million) for a 9.9% stake in Canadian lithium developer Patriot Battery Metals. Patriot also signed a binding offtake agreement to supply PowerCo, Volkswagen’s battery making subsidiary, with 100,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate per year (~10,000 tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent) over a decade. The lithium will come from […]
> South Korea’s battery industry is one of the most developed and globally integrated ecosystems in the world. Yet beneath the surface of its technical leadership lies a sense of caution: competition from China is intensifying, margins are thin, and chemistry choices are shifting rapidly. A recent visit by Benchmark’s Lithium Product Director, Cameron Perks – […]
> Prime Minister Mark Carney has claimed victory in Canada’s election, following a campaign defined by rebuttals to President Trump’s annexation threats and Canadian pushback to aggressive US tariff policies. As Canada enters a new, more turbulent era in its relationship with the US, Prime Minister Carney has pledged to maintain Canada’s retaliatory tariffs against its […]
> 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 […]
> NOVONIX has signed a binding offtake agreement with PowerCo, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, for synthetic graphite anode material as geopolitical uncertainty continues to drive supply chain diversification. The company will supply a minimum of 32,000 tonnes of synthetic graphite to PowerCo for a five-year term starting in 2027. The battery materials player is expected to […]
> As next-generation batteries get nearer to commercialisation, developers are increasingly licensing their technologies to OEMs. This year, around 12 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of solid-state and lithium metal battery production is expected, up from 5 GWh last year, according to Benchmark’s Solid-State and Lithium Metal Forecast. This comes as US-based developer QuantumScape announced it would licence its […]
> Since January 2025, 108GWh of LFP production capacity has been announced in North America through to 2030, bringing the total to 281GWh. These announcements have been driven by the increasing importance of the BESS industry in the US, as tax credits for EVs have been phased out. How is future capacity changing? The new capacity […]
> 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 […]
> In the season of Q3 result releases, battery manufacturer CATL has reported record financial performance. Cumulative revenue from Q1–Q3 rose from RMB259bn ($36bn) in 2024 to RMB283bn ($39.3bn) in 2025, a year‑on‑year increase of 9%. Net profit also rose 41% between Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, from RMB13.14bn ($1.87bn) to RMB18.55bn ($2.58bn). Efficiency gains underpin profit growth Increasing efficiency has […]