Electric vehicles (EVs) were supposed to supercharge demand for metals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. Yet prices for all three EV battery inputs have fallen to such bombed-out levels that producers are curtailing output and deferring new projects.
This is partly a problem of oversupply. Explosive price rallies in 2021 and 2022 resulted in too much new production capacity being brought online too quickly. But it is also a problem of demand.
The transition away from the internal combustion engine has by no means ground to a halt. Global new energy vehicle sales were up by 20% year-on-year in January-August, according to consultancy Rho Motion. Rather, the mix of vehicles being sold and the evolution of battery chemistry have dramatically changed the metals demand dynamic.
For the rest of this article: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/electric-vehicles-prove-bumpy-ride-battery-metals-andy-home-2024-10-22/