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refining outside China gathers pace with Tesla, AMG plants","lithium-refining-outside-china-gathers-pace-with-tesla-amg-plants","article/lithium-refining-outside-china-gathers-pace-with-tesla-amg-plants",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":560,"content":570,"excerpt":759,"featured":51,"reporter":760,"_editable":764,"component":765,"seo_title":553,"categories":766,"visibility":772,"author_company":49,"featured_image":773,"seo_description":759,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":778,"formattedArticleDate":779},"b87d748e-de2d-4aef-9ae8-7125cf790f59","2022-09-09 00:00",[],[561],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":564},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":565,"image":566,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":567},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":571,"content":572},"doc",[573,580,595,600,605,610,615,622,627,632,637,642,647,652,657,668,673,678,683,696,701,706,711,716,721,726,729,734,739,744,749,754],{"type":574,"attrs":575,"content":576},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[577],{"text":578,"type":579},"Efforts to build lithium refining capacity outside China and reduce reliance on the country for battery chemicals are gathering pace, with recent announcements by Tesla and AMG Lithium in the US and Europe.","text",{"type":574,"attrs":581,"content":582},{"textAlign":49},[583,585,593],{"text":584,"type":579},"Tesla said it was “evaluating the possible development of a battery-grade lithium hydroxide ",{"text":586,"type":579,"marks":587},"refining facility",[588],{"type":589,"attrs":590},"link",{"href":591,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":592},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/exclusive-tesla-becomes-first-automaker-to-enter-lithium-supply-chain-reshapes-foundations-of-china-dominated-spodumene-2","url",{"text":594,"type":579},",” in the Texas Gulf Coast, according to a filing with the Comptroller’s Office in Texas. This week AMG also said it had said it will supply Korean cathode producer EcoPro with battery-grade lithium hydroxide from its plant under construction in Germany.",{"type":574,"attrs":596,"content":597},{"textAlign":49},[598],{"text":599,"type":579},"The announcements could help reduce US and European’s reliance on China for processing of lithium chemicals used in batteries. Benchmark forecasts that between 2021 and 2031, the rest of the world will increase its lithium chemical output by over 25 times, accounting for a little over a quarter of global supply.",{"type":574,"attrs":601,"content":602},{"textAlign":49},[603],{"text":604,"type":579},"Currently almost all lithium chemical supply comes from China, Chile, and Argentina. A lot of Chile and Argentina’s output is then sent to China to be further processed into battery-grade chemicals, Daisy Jennings-Gray, an analyst at Benchmark, said.",{"type":574,"attrs":606,"content":607},{"textAlign":49},[608],{"text":609,"type":579},"“More plans will come about especially with the high price environment we are in,” Jennings-Gray said.",{"type":574,"attrs":611,"content":612},{"textAlign":49},[613],{"text":614,"type":579},"Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk said during an earnings call earlier this year  that lithium refining is “a license to print money.”",{"type":616,"attrs":617,"content":619},"heading",{"level":618,"textAlign":49},4,[620],{"text":621,"type":579},"Texas Gulf Coast lithium refinery ",{"type":574,"attrs":623,"content":624},{"textAlign":49},[625],{"text":626,"type":579},"Tesla said that it will process “raw ore material into a usable state for battery production, at its refinery, using less “hazardous reagents” than current processes. The final lithium hydroxide will be shipped by truck and rail to Tesla’s battery manufacturing sites, it said.",{"type":574,"attrs":628,"content":629},{"textAlign":49},[630],{"text":631,"type":579},"The project could begin construction in the fourth quarter of this year and start operations by the fourth quarter of 2024, Tesla said. It is, however, also evaluating another site in Louisiana, and cautioned that it is “still evaluating the feasibility of this project.”",{"type":574,"attrs":633,"content":634},{"textAlign":49},[635],{"text":636,"type":579},"“This project could be located anywhere with access to the Gulf Coast shipping channel,” Tesla said.",{"type":574,"attrs":638,"content":639},{"textAlign":49},[640],{"text":641,"type":579},"This year Tesla signed agreements with Australian producers Core Lithium and Liontown Resources for supplies of spodumene lithium. The automaker is also building a cathode plant at its gigafactory in Austin, Texas,",{"type":574,"attrs":643,"content":644},{"textAlign":49},[645],{"text":646,"type":579},"North America is currently forecast to account for 8.5% of the global lithium chemical supply in 2031, up from 3% last year. In contrast to Europe, North America has more of a focus on integrated facilities.",{"type":574,"attrs":648,"content":649},{"textAlign":49},[650],{"text":651,"type":579},"Livent is currently expanding its refining operations in Bessemer City, North Carolina, and said the 5,000 tonne expansion would start production in the fourth quarter. Livent also owns 50% of Nemaska Lithium, which is building an integrated mine and processing facility in Quebec.",{"type":616,"attrs":653,"content":654},{"level":618,"textAlign":49},[655],{"text":656,"type":579},"European lithium refining ",{"type":574,"attrs":658,"content":659},{"textAlign":49},[660,666],{"text":661,"type":579,"marks":662},"AMG Lithium is currently building a lithium refinery",[663],{"type":589,"attrs":664},{"href":665,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":592},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/amg-move-to-bolster-europes-fledgling-lithium-pipeline",{"text":667,"type":579}," in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany which it says will begin operating in late 2023. The plant will initially produce 20,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide a year with ambitions to expand to 100,000 tonnes.",{"type":574,"attrs":669,"content":670},{"textAlign":49},[671],{"text":672,"type":579},"EcoPro, a Korean cathode producer, has a planned cathode production facility in Debrecen, Hungary. The company signed a binding offtake agreement with AGM Lithium for at least 5,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide a year.",{"type":574,"attrs":674,"content":675},{"textAlign":49},[676],{"text":677,"type":579},"Europe has over 300 GWh of cathode capacity in planning and construction, according to Benchmark’s Cathode Market Assessment. This will lead to accelerating demand in the region for lithium chemicals.",{"type":574,"attrs":679,"content":680},{"textAlign":49},[681],{"text":682,"type":579},"Partnerships and offtake agreements are forming which will help increase Europe’s lithium chemical supply.",{"type":574,"attrs":684,"content":685},{"textAlign":49},[686,688,694],{"text":687,"type":579},"The oil company Galp is also looking to get in on lithium refining, through a joint venture with Northvolt ",{"text":689,"type":579,"marks":690},"announced at the end of last year",[691],{"type":589,"attrs":692},{"href":693,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":592},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/northvolt-moves-upstream-with-galp-lithium-hydroxide-jv",{"text":695,"type":579},". The companies plan to build a lithium refinery in Poland producing up to 35,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide.",{"type":574,"attrs":697,"content":698},{"textAlign":49},[699],{"text":700,"type":579},"Benchmark forecasts Europe to account for nine percent of global lithium chemical supply in 2031. On the basis of current announcements, Europe won’t be able to supply its cathode production capacity with local lithium chemicals.",{"type":574,"attrs":702,"content":703},{"textAlign":49},[704],{"text":705,"type":579},"“It is difficult to get a refining facility online with consistent battery grade lithium output,” Jennings-Gray said. “It’s not something Europe’s done before.”",{"type":574,"attrs":707,"content":708},{"textAlign":49},[709],{"text":710,"type":579},"“The producers need to get their raw material from somewhere, and it looks like it will be China for some time,” she added.",{"type":616,"attrs":712,"content":713},{"level":618,"textAlign":49},[714],{"text":715,"type":579},"China dominance ",{"type":574,"attrs":717,"content":718},{"textAlign":49},[719],{"text":720,"type":579},"Other regions are starting to catch up, but it is unlikely they will be able to challenge the strength of the big three countries, Jennings-Gray said.",{"type":574,"attrs":722,"content":723},{"textAlign":49},[724],{"text":725,"type":579},"In addition the projects in the pipeline are not sufficient to meet the projected North American and European demand, Jennings-Gray said.",{"type":574,"attrs":727,"content":728},{"textAlign":49},[],{"type":574,"attrs":730,"content":731},{"textAlign":49},[732],{"text":733,"type":579},"“There is some domestication of lithium refining, but this is not going to take over China, Chile, and Argentina,” Jennings-Gray said.",{"type":574,"attrs":735,"content":736},{"textAlign":49},[737],{"text":738,"type":579},"If a refinery isn’t integrated with a mine, “getting your hands on the feedstock becomes more of a challenge,” she added.",{"type":574,"attrs":740,"content":741},{"textAlign":49},[742],{"text":743,"type":579},"Some of this growth is in Australia, which despite its dominance in spodumene mining currently does none of the refining itself; in 2021, 100% of spodumene processing was carried out in China.",{"type":574,"attrs":745,"content":746},{"textAlign":49},[747],{"text":748,"type":579},"Tianqi Lithium said this month that its newly built lithium hydroxide refinery in Perth was still testing its battery-grade product with customers and it was likely to take another 4 to 8 months before commercial production. The project was originally set to start production in 2018, highlighting the difficulties of building processing facilities outside of China.",{"type":574,"attrs":750,"content":751},{"textAlign":49},[752],{"text":753,"type":579},"“The actual schedule of completion is still uncertain due to the higher requirements of downstream high-end lithium battery manufacturers on lithium hydroxide products from the suppliers,” Tianqi said.",{"type":574,"attrs":755,"content":756},{"textAlign":49},[757],{"text":758,"type":579},"Based on current announcements, Benchmark forecasts Australia to account for six percent of lithium chemical supply in 2031, up from none last year.","Efforts to build lithium refining capacity outside China and reduce reliance on the country for battery chemicals are gathering pace, with recent announcements by Tesla and AMG Lithium in the US and Europe. Tesla said it was “evaluating the possible development of a battery-grade lithium hydroxide refining facility,” in the Texas Gulf Coast, according to […]",[761],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":762},{"job_title":565,"image":763,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},{"filename":567},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"b87d748e-de2d-4aef-9ae8-7125cf790f59\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[767,770],{"slug":768,"name":769},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":771,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":774,"name":774,"focus":774,"title":774,"source":774,"filename":775,"copyright":774,"fieldtype":776,"meta_data":777,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/9a3e78127e/bm-livent-bessemer-city.png","asset",{"alt":774,"title":774,"source":774,"copyright":774},"Sep 09, 2022","9th September 2022",[],[],1792773924326]