Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 38

Column: Lithium slump puts China’s spot price under the spotlight – by Andy Home (Reuters – May 19, 2023)

May 19, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) – High-flying lithium has come crashing back to earth. A super-charged two-year rally, which saw Chinese spot lithium carbonate prices rise by tenfold, went into brutal reverse over the first part of this year. The spot price slumped by 70% between November and its low point in April.

The battery metal was knocked off its heights by early-year weakness in China’s electric vehicle (EV) market, still by some margin the world’s largest. The temporary demand hit rippled back up through the Chinese battery chain, generating a collective destocking cycle and killing the spot market.

OPINION: Pay me now, pay me later, pay me again: the Trudeau government’s industrial strategy – by The Editorial Board (Globe and Mail – May 18, 2023)

May 19, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The thing about paying a ransom is, once word gets around, you end up with another ransom note in hand before too long.

The federal and Ontario governments are learning that painful, yet predictable, lesson, now that Stellantis and LG Energy Solution seemed to have noticed that competitor Volkswagen extracted far better terms for its state-subsidized electric-vehicle battery factory than they were able to secure for their state-subsidized facility a year ago.

Canadian critical minerals company gunning for some of China’s action considers selling assets as costs surge by 85% – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – May 17, 2023)

May 19, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Stock plunges for start-up seen as potential counterweight to China’s dominance of materials crucial to energy transition

A Canadian upstart that positioned itself as a counterweight to China’s dominance of critical minerals is considering selling assets after the cost of the refinery it is building north of Toronto surged by at least 85 per cent.

Electra Battery Materials Corp., which counts commodities giant Glencore PLC among its clients and has received funding from Ottawa and the Ontario government, said it faces a budget shortfall of about $50 million for one of its crucial projects.

Ontario doesn’t need Ring of Fire to achieve EV ambitions: experts – by Alan S. Hale (Politics Today – May 18, 2023)

May 19, 2023

https://www.politicstoday.news/

Amid growing objections from First Nations, Premier Doug Ford remains dead set on developing the Ring of Fire to fuel Ontario’s goal of becoming a major player in the EV industry. But three mining industry experts Queen’s Park Today spoke to said Ontario can become a major global EV hub without the Ring of Fire.

However, they said giving up on the project would be a drastic measure that could significantly set that goal back for a long time and would also have geopolitical implications. Geologist and mining consultant Jim Franklin helped Spider Resources — the company that discovered mineral deposits in the Ring of Fire while searching for diamonds — understand what they had found.

How the EV battery boom could change Bécancour, a quiet corner of Quebec, forever – by Nicolas Van Praet (Globe and Mail – May 5, 2023)

May 19, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The countryside city of Bécancour may have finally found its higher purpose: making battery materials for EVs in the global energy transition

Dreams of industrial glory are alive again in Bécancour, Que. On the tidy main streets and busy eateries in this countryside city of 15,000 people, a hopeful buzz is in the air over a wave of new cutting-edge factories set to push up from the ground that could cement the area’s future for decades. An electric vehicle battery boom is nigh.

This is a collection of six villages across the St. Lawrence River from Trois Rivières, grouped together into one municipality for administrative convenience. Each has its own church and local history, and if you’re in the area, Bécancour’s tourism board suggests a hunt for “gnome homes” scattered among historical sites and a circuit of poutine restaurants to satisfy your culinary cravings.

EXCLUSIVE: Chile mines minister clarifies controversial new lithium strategy – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – May 16, 2023)

May 17, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

A decision by Chile, the world’s no. 2 lithium producer, to tighten control over the key battery metal sector has triggered speculation on what the announced state-led public-private model will look like and how it may affect the global industry.

To address market rumours and clarify aspects of the strategy described by some as “vague”, MINING.COM spoke with Chile’s mining minister Marcela Hernando, who noted the country had announced a strategy, rather than a policy.

Windsor: Ford ‘disappointed’ in Ottawa’s handling of rocky Stellantis deal for EV battery plant (Canadian Press/CBC News Windsor – May 17,2023)

May 17, 2023

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/

The automaker has stopped most construction on a Windsor plant that would employ 2,500 people

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is responding to federal government calls for the province to help fund commitments Canada made to automaker Stellantis by saying he is “disappointed” with how Ottawa has handled the issue.

Both levels of government are working hard to ensure Stellantis doesn’t pull out of its promise to jointly build an electric vehicle battery plant with LG Energy Solution in Windsor, Ont., but it’s up to Ottawa to follow through on its promises, Ford said Wednesday.

Report: EV battery making riddled with rights violations, environmental threats – by Subel Rai Bhandari (Radio Free Asia – May 16, 2023)

May 17, 2023

https://www.rfa.org/english/

Companies including Panasonic, Tesla, and Toyota should check their supply chain, rights group says.

Human rights violations and environmental abuses were found in two nickel supply chains in the Philippines and Indonesia, home to more than half of the world’s supplies. They provide batteries to companies including Panasonic, Tesla, and Toyota, said a report released Tuesday by a rights research group.

The lack of transparency in electric vehicle battery supply chains means end-user companies must be held responsible, as they can easily distance themselves from the lower-level abuses and avoid addressing associated risks, the London-based Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) said in its report “Powering Electric Vehicles.”

EU Nears Critical-Materials Agreements With Argentina and Chile – by Jorge Valero and Alberto Nardell(Bloomberg News – May 17, 2023)

May 17, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The European Union is working on deals with Argentina and Chile that will widen its access to critical minerals and metals such as lithium needed for electric-vehicle batteries as part of its goal of creating a less carbon-intensive economy.

Preliminary memorandums of understanding could be signed during the next four months, according to the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, which added that further partnerships are possible in South America and beyond.

Future of Canada’s mining industry hangs on who gets U.S. subsidies, with nickel the ‘litmus test’ – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – May 17, 2023)

May 17, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Execs worry a quirk in the Inflation Reduction Act could allow nickel powerhouse Indonesia to qualify for tax incentives, making it almost impossible for North American companies to compete

Last month, Republican congressman Pete Stauber of Minnesota penned a pointed letter to United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai before she embarked on a trip to Asia.

“I write to express concern over recent comments by Indonesian government officials that the country is seeking to enter a limited free trade agreement with the U.S., to increase trade of critical minerals needed for EV batteries and other renewable technologies,” Stauber said in the letter, dated April 14.

Lithium prices to keep rising as demand outpaces supply – by Nicki Bourlioufas (Australian Financial Review – May 16, 2023)

May 17, 2023

https://www.afr.com/

Lithium prices are set to extend their recovery from a brutal sell-off of 70 per cent as demand outstrips weaker-than-expected lithium supply growth, underpinned by the growing take-up of electric vehicles to meet carbon emission targets.

The recent rise in lithium prices follows a horror five-month period during which tumbled more than 70 per cent after China curbed electric vehicle (EV) subsidies in January, a move that led to faltering demand and rising inventories.

OPINION: Volkswagen, then Stellantis: Billions for battery plants, but little on mines for raw material – by Giancarlo Da-Re, Matthew Funk and Rachel Ziemba (Globe and Mail – May 16, 2023)

May 17, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The federal government and many provincial governments have taken some big steps to seize the potential of the green transition, most recently with the $13-billion subsidy, multiyear subsidy for the St. Thomas, Ont., Volkswagen electric-vehicle battery plant. However, this is not a financially sustainable approach.

Less than a month after that subsidy’s price tag was revealed, news emerged that Ottawa is under pressure to match it for Stellantis and LG Energy Solution’s Windsor, Ont., battery plant, with construction at the site halted. And for all their hefty price tags, there is a key ingredient missing from these subsidies.

Indonesia’s EV dream crashing on a lack of lithium – by John McBeth (Asia Times – May 15, 2023)

May 15, 2023

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Indonesia importing a fraction of the lithium needed to crank up EV battery production with no clear new source in sight

JAKARTA – Delivering a speech on the sidelines of last year’s G20 Summit, President Joko Widodo pointed to lithium as the one crucial element Indonesia still needed to make electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Turning, he gestured towards Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seated near him and observed: “That man has lithium.”

Nickel-rich Indonesia may be on the cusp of an EV battery revolution, but it still lacks a guaranteed supply of lithium for it to become a reality by 2025, the year Maritime Affairs and Investment Coordinating Minister Luhut Panjaitan has targeted for the first battery plant to go into operation.

The New EV Gold-Rush: Automakers Scramble to Get Into Mining – by Mike Colias and Scott Patterson (Wall Street Journal – May 15, 2023)

May 15, 2023

https://www.wsj.com/

A scarcity of EV battery materials pushes car companies and miners to work closer together; for both, there is a learning curve

When General Motors began outlining plans in 2020 to fully switch to electric vehicles, it didn’t account for one critical factor: Many of the battery minerals needed to fulfill its plans were still in the ground.

“I remember seeing a report from our raw-materials team at the time saying, ‘There is plenty of lithium out there. There is plenty of nickel’,” said Sham Kunjur, an industrial engineer now in charge of securing the raw materials for GM’s batteries. “We will buy them from the open market.”

Merger of lithium giants expected to create Quebec powerhouse – by Andrew Willis and Nicolas Van Praet (Globe and Mail – May 12, 2023)

May 15, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Two of the world’s largest lithium producers announced a US$10.6-billion merger on Wednesday that is expected to speed development of mines and a refinery in Quebec.

Brisbane, Australia’s Allkem Ltd. is joining forces with Philadelphia-based Livent Corp., LTHM-N uniting the owners of lithium mines in Canada, Argentina and Australia, and a global network of processing plants. The merger creates the world’s third-largest miner of a key raw material in electric vehicle batteries.