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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[518,519,520,522,524,526,528,530,532,534,536,538],{"date":213,"value":512},{"date":216,"value":513},{"date":219,"value":521},99.19,{"date":222,"value":523},96.02,{"date":225,"value":525},98.23,{"date":467,"value":527},99.24,{"date":329,"value":529},101.29,{"date":339,"value":531},87.61,{"date":341,"value":533},92.44,{"date":344,"value":535},90.96,{"date":347,"value":537},92.24,{"date":350,"value":539},95.09,{"id":541,"uuid":542,"name":543,"slug":544,"full_slug":545,"content":546,"relatedArticles":666,"relatedVideos":667},112473908182297,"570763af-6e14-4de2-a59e-7027fdebbc96","BMW builds out sustainable battery strategy with non-DRC cobalt deal and lithium ion cells from Northvolt","bmw-builds-out-sustainable-battery-strategy-with-non-drc-cobalt-deal-and-lithium-ion-cells-from-northvolt","article/bmw-builds-out-sustainable-battery-strategy-with-non-drc-cobalt-deal-and-lithium-ion-cells-from-northvolt",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":550,"content":560,"excerpt":647,"featured":50,"reporter":648,"_editable":652,"component":653,"seo_title":543,"categories":654,"visibility":658,"author_company":49,"featured_image":659,"seo_description":647,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":664,"formattedArticleDate":665},"995c9dc8-22aa-4ef0-b2c5-86d1ee716431","2020-07-21 00:00",[],[551],{"slug":552,"name":553,"content":554},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":555,"image":556,"bio":558,"linkedin":559},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":557},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":561,"content":562},"doc",[563,570,575,582,587,592,597,602,607,612,617,622,627,632,637,642],{"type":564,"attrs":565,"content":566},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[567],{"text":568,"type":569},"This July, BMW has provided more colour to its battery cell sourcing strategy with the announcement of a €100 million, 5-year cobalt supply deal with Morocco’s Managem Group, and a €2 billion supply contract for battery cells from the Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt.","text",{"type":564,"attrs":571,"content":572},{"textAlign":49},[573],{"text":574,"type":569},"The company has placed emphasis on the responsible and sustainable sourcing aspect of both of these deals, as the automaker positions itself for increased scrutiny of its suppliers and the growing importance that life cycle assessments will play in the battery supply chain.",{"type":576,"attrs":577,"content":579},"heading",{"level":578,"textAlign":49},4,[580],{"text":581,"type":569},"How sustainable is BMW’s non-DRC cobalt strategy?",{"type":564,"attrs":583,"content":584},{"textAlign":49},[585],{"text":586,"type":569},"The deal with Managem Group builds on a memorandum of understanding which was signed back in Q1 2019. The deal will reportedly provide BMW with approximately 20% of its cobalt needs with the other 80% coming from Australia, via Glencore’s Murrin Murrin operation from 2020 onwards.",{"type":564,"attrs":588,"content":589},{"textAlign":49},[590],{"text":591,"type":569},"In its statement announcing the deal, BMW placed on emphasis on its efforts to source cobalt sustainably. For now, the company is sourcing its cobalt from ex-DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) countries, but as it scales up production the limitations of cobalt supply from outside of the DRC will create bottlenecks and potential price premiums for ex-DRC supply.",{"type":564,"attrs":593,"content":594},{"textAlign":49},[595],{"text":596,"type":569},"As BMW acknowledged, by the time this supply deal ends in 2025 the company expects its demand for cobalt to triple as it scales up its electric vehicle (EV) offerings. At that point the limited amount of non-DRC supply could be locked up in long-term supply deals by cell and auto makers.",{"type":564,"attrs":598,"content":599},{"textAlign":49},[600],{"text":601,"type":569},"But how limited is supply outside of the DRC?",{"type":564,"attrs":603,"content":604},{"textAlign":49},[605],{"text":606,"type":569},"In 2019, Benchmark estimates the total mined supply of cobalt was just shy of 137,000 tonnes — only 26% of this was from non-DRC supply. By the end of BMW’s cobalt supply deal with Managem, Benchmark’s Cobalt Forecast is showing that while cobalt mined supply will have increased to approximately 246,000 tonnes, the share coming from non-DRC sources will have barely shifted – increasing to 27%.",{"type":564,"attrs":608,"content":609},{"textAlign":49},[610],{"text":611,"type":569},"Breaking it down further based on where BMW will be sourcing from, we can see that in 2019, Australia and Morocco provided 3% of global supply combined and Benchmark’s Cobalt Forecast shows this increasing to 5% by 2025. However, despite these increases, with BMW’s cobalt demands set to triple in this time, and other automakers seeing similar increases in demand, sources of cobalt from outside of the DRC will be squeezed.",{"type":564,"attrs":613,"content":614},{"textAlign":49},[615],{"text":616,"type":569},"While BMW’s strategy of non-DRC cobalt works for now it will be difficult to sustain in the long-term if other automakers look outside the DRC. To compound matters, much of the supply outside of the DRC is directed towards the metal industry, which is far less price sensitive in many industries and will be able to pay premiums above the reach of the EV supply chain. The DRC will continue to be the main source of the EV and battery industry’s cobalt and this will continue to be the case going forward.",{"type":576,"attrs":618,"content":619},{"level":578,"textAlign":49},[620],{"text":621,"type":569},"€2 billion of battery cells from Northvolt",{"type":564,"attrs":623,"content":624},{"textAlign":49},[625],{"text":626,"type":569},"Northvolt has been making increased inroads into the electrification plans of Europe’s automakers looking to secure future battery cell supply on the continent. The latest being BMW’s long-term supply contract which will come into play from 2024 with an order volume of €2 billion euros of lithium ion cells.",{"type":564,"attrs":628,"content":629},{"textAlign":49},[630],{"text":631,"type":569},"The battery cells will come from Northvolt’s Skellefteå plant in Sweden, which we assess will have 16 GWh of capacity in 2024, ramping up to 40 GWh by 2029 according to the latest data from Benchmark’s Lithium ion Megafactory Assessment.",{"type":564,"attrs":633,"content":634},{"textAlign":49},[635],{"text":636,"type":569},"Production at the Skellefteå facility will be powered by wind and hydroelectric power, thus reducing the overall carbon footprint of the cells. The significance of carbon footprints and life cycle assessments on OEM decision making, particularly in Europe, will increase in the coming years as the role of the entire lithium ion supply chain comes under increased scrutiny for emissions related to the entire production and retirement of the vehicle, not just at the exhaust pipe.",{"type":564,"attrs":638,"content":639},{"textAlign":49},[640],{"text":641,"type":569},"Looking forward to end of use, BMW and Northvolt are also working closely with Umicore on the development of a “closed life cycle loop” for battery cells. Northvolt’s cells will be manufactured using a recyclable design to be used in electric vehicles, then possibly for stationary storage before finally being recycled and reused.",{"type":564,"attrs":643,"content":644},{"textAlign":49},[645],{"text":646,"type":569},"While this deal is significant for BMW, it already has supply deals in place with Tier 1 producers CATL and Samsung SDI as securing quality cells through established partnerships will be critical to meeting its target of having 25 models on the road by 2023, which is a year before the Northvolt supply deal begins.","This July, BMW has provided more colour to its battery cell sourcing strategy with the announcement of a €100 million, 5-year cobalt supply deal with Morocco’s Managem Group, and a €2 billion supply contract for battery cells from the Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt. The company has placed emphasis on the responsible and sustainable sourcing aspect […]",[649],{"slug":552,"name":553,"content":650},{"job_title":555,"image":651,"bio":558,"linkedin":559},{"filename":557},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"995c9dc8-22aa-4ef0-b2c5-86d1ee716431\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[655],{"slug":656,"name":657},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":660,"name":660,"focus":660,"title":660,"source":660,"filename":661,"copyright":660,"fieldtype":662,"meta_data":663,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/9ab0f0c908/bm-p90390873-highres-preparations-for-bmw.jpg","asset",{"alt":660,"title":660,"source":660,"copyright":660},"Jul 21, 2020","21st July 2020",[],[],1780500991063]