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cobalt and nickel prices to ease battery cell price jump","lower-cobalt-and-nickel-prices-to-ease-battery-cell-price-jump","article/lower-cobalt-and-nickel-prices-to-ease-battery-cell-price-jump",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":560,"content":570,"excerpt":660,"featured":51,"reporter":661,"_editable":665,"component":666,"seo_title":553,"categories":667,"visibility":675,"author_company":49,"featured_image":676,"seo_description":660,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":681,"formattedArticleDate":682},"26488cd8-6d0c-4f0c-ad91-cd215ca16d64","2022-07-14 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",[573,580,585,590,595,600,605,612,617,622,627,630,635,640,645,650,655],{"type":574,"attrs":575,"content":576},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[577],{"text":578,"type":579},"Falling cobalt, nickel and copper prices could ease battery pricing pressures this year for automakers, as fears of a global recession and resurgence of Covid-19 in China weigh on raw material markets.","text",{"type":574,"attrs":581,"content":582},{"textAlign":49},[583],{"text":584,"type":579},"Chinese nickel sulphate prices fell by 11.2% in June from a month earlier, according to Benchmark’s Nickel Price Assessment, while cobalt sulphate prices fell by 10% from May. Meanwhile, copper prices are trading at their lowest levels in 19 months.",{"type":574,"attrs":586,"content":587},{"textAlign":49},[588],{"text":589,"type":579},"The lower prices may offer some reprieve for automakers, who have had to pay more for battery cells over the past year due to rising raw material prices, especially of lithium. The costs for nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) 622 battery cells have risen by 45% since the first quarter of 2021, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Ion Battery Database.",{"type":574,"attrs":591,"content":592},{"textAlign":49},[593],{"text":594,"type":579},"While lithium prices remain high, limited demand for cobalt and nickel on the Chinese spot market following Shanghai’s lockdown in March and April has driven weaker prices, according to Greg Miller, an analyst at Benchmark. China has reported an uptick of Covid-19 cases in recent days, raising fears that Shanghai could again be put into lockdown.",{"type":574,"attrs":596,"content":597},{"textAlign":49},[598],{"text":599,"type":579},"In addition, due to new supply, both markets are set to be in surplus this year.",{"type":574,"attrs":601,"content":602},{"textAlign":49},[603],{"text":604,"type":579},"“There could be price relief for automakers in the second half of this year,” Miller said. “China’s EV sales haven’t translated yet into upstream demand, there’s still fears of Covid-19, no one buys loads more material if there’s a concern about potential lockdowns.”",{"type":606,"attrs":607,"content":609},"heading",{"level":608,"textAlign":49},4,[610],{"text":611,"type":579},"Surplus markets",{"type":574,"attrs":613,"content":614},{"textAlign":49},[615],{"text":616,"type":579},"Benchmark forecasts the cobalt and nickel market will be in surplus this year, due to new processing projects in Indonesia, which produce primarily nickel but also cobalt. Indonesian nickel output is forecast to grow by 48% this year from a year earlier, according to Benchmark’s Nickel Forecast.",{"type":574,"attrs":618,"content":619},{"textAlign":49},[620],{"text":621,"type":579},"There are a total of 15 high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) nickel projects being developed in Indonesia, according to Benchmark. As a result, nickel is set to be in a surplus until 2031, Benchmark forecasts.",{"type":574,"attrs":623,"content":624},{"textAlign":49},[625],{"text":626,"type":579},"“My government’s energy transition roadmap prioritises increasing the added value of nickel and cobalt as raw materials for making batteries for electric vehicles and storage,” Arifin Tasrif, Indonesia’s Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources, told the Syndey Energy Forum this week.",{"type":574,"attrs":628,"content":629},{"textAlign":49},[],{"type":574,"attrs":631,"content":632},{"textAlign":49},[633],{"text":634,"type":579},"Cobalt supply from the Democratic Republic of the Congo has also increased this year, with the world’s second-largest producer CMOC reporting cobalt production rose by 48% in the first half of the year to 10,368 tonnes.",{"type":574,"attrs":636,"content":637},{"textAlign":49},[638],{"text":639,"type":579},"Benchmark cobalt metal prices have fallen from $40 a pound in April – the highest level since 2018 – to less than $30 a pound now, according to Benchmark’s Cobalt Price Assessment.",{"type":606,"attrs":641,"content":642},{"level":608,"textAlign":49},[643],{"text":644,"type":579},"Battery costs",{"type":574,"attrs":646,"content":647},{"textAlign":49},[648],{"text":649,"type":579},"While lithium currently accounts for over 20% of the cost of a lithium ion battery cell, for some automakers nickel and cobalt are still significant.",{"type":574,"attrs":651,"content":652},{"textAlign":49},[653],{"text":654,"type":579},"Nickel makes up around 24% of the cost of a high-nickel 811 nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) battery cell, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Ion Battery Database, while cobalt makes up around 7% of the costs.",{"type":574,"attrs":656,"content":657},{"textAlign":49},[658],{"text":659,"type":579},"Cobalt containing batteries are set to make up 68% of total battery demand this year, Benchmark estimates, equivalent to around 121,000 tonnes of cobalt.","Falling cobalt, nickel and copper prices could ease battery pricing pressures this year for automakers, as fears of a global recession and resurgence of Covid-19 in China weigh on raw material markets. Chinese nickel sulphate prices fell by 11.2% in June from a month earlier, according to Benchmark’s Nickel Price Assessment, while cobalt sulphate prices […]",[662],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":663},{"job_title":565,"image":664,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},{"filename":567},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"26488cd8-6d0c-4f0c-ad91-cd215ca16d64\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[668,670,673],{"slug":669,"name":115},"cobalt",{"slug":671,"name":672},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":674,"name":150},"nickel","private",{"id":49,"alt":677,"name":677,"focus":677,"title":677,"source":677,"filename":678,"copyright":677,"fieldtype":679,"meta_data":680,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/13fcbdadae/bm-nickel-new-caledonia-e1657785595723.jpg","asset",{"alt":677,"title":677,"source":677,"copyright":677},"Jul 14, 2022","14th July 2022",[],[],1792773925360]