The EU Critical Raw Materials Act aims to create “strong, resilient and sustainable” value chains for minerals by encouraging the development of mining and processing within Europe. It also includes a number of proposals to strengthen ESG oversight of the sector. Here’s a breakdown of some of the proposals: Speeding up mine permitting The act aims […]
> The carbon footprint of lithium ion batteries can vary significantly depending on the types of raw materials used and the location of production, according to Benchmark’s Battery Emissions Analyser. Producing high-nickel lithium ion batteries in Sweden rather than China could help reduce a cell’s carbon footprint by >25%, according to Benchmark. And using lithium mined […]
> 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 […]
> G7 nations and the European Union (EU) are reportedly examining a proposal to introduce price floors for rare earth elements, as they seek measures to reduce strategic vulnerabilities and break China’s dominance over the supply chain. China has built a monopoly on global rare earth production and accounts for 91% of global refined rare earth […]
> In the third quarter of 2025, 18 of the largest 25 copper miners reported quarter-on-quarter decreases in their output, including the top four miners. The total Q3 copper production reported by the top 25 miners hit 3.72Mt. “In the third quarter, many companies saw lower production compared to the previous quarter. However, most did not […]
> 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 European Union (EU) is eyeing Greenland as a key strategic partner as it advances plans to develop Europe-focused raw material value chains and reduce reliance on China. The bloc signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Greenland for a strategic partnership to develop sustainable raw materials value chains in November 2023; a bilateral cooperation […]
> Benchmark recently travelled to several nickel operations across Indonesia to improve our understanding of the developments in this critical part of the battery supply chain and generate insights to support our analysis of the nickel and cobalt raw material markets. The country has ambitious plans to capture a greater share of value in the battery […]
> The UK currently has no operating lithium extraction facilities. However, there are ambitious plans to develop this industry, with 97,000 tonnes LCE per year of nameplate capacity in the pipeline at various stages of funding and development. Direct lithium extraction (DLE) from geothermal brines accounts for 60% of this pipeline, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Forecast. […]