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pleads for more lithium miners, says “margins are like software”","musk-pleads-for-more-lithium-miners-says-margins-are-like-software","article/musk-pleads-for-more-lithium-miners-says-margins-are-like-software",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":566,"content":576,"excerpt":669,"featured":51,"reporter":670,"_editable":674,"component":675,"seo_title":553,"categories":676,"visibility":681,"author_company":49,"featured_image":682,"seo_description":669,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":687,"formattedArticleDate":688},"000130c6-f699-4ccf-b091-915ff9c6e2cc","2022-04-21 00:00",[560,563],{"slug":561,"name":562},"lithium-prices","Lithium prices",{"slug":564,"name":565},"tesla","Tesla",[567],{"slug":568,"name":569,"content":570},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":571,"image":572,"bio":574,"linkedin":575},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":573},"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":577,"content":578},"doc",[579,586,601,606,611,616,621,626,631,636,641,654,659,664],{"type":580,"attrs":581,"content":582},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[583],{"text":584,"type":585},"Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk pleaded for more investment in the lithium sector to help tame record high prices and reduce rising battery costs, saying margins for mining companies were now similar to the software industry.","text",{"type":580,"attrs":587,"content":588},{"textAlign":49},[589,591,599],{"text":590,"type":585},"Musk said on Wednesday that mining and refining of ",{"text":592,"type":585,"marks":593},"lithium",[594],{"type":595,"attrs":596},"link",{"href":597,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":598},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/tesla-taps-australia-for-future-lithium-supply-as-prices-hit-record-highs","url",{"text":600,"type":585}," was the biggest “limiting factor” for electric vehicle adoption globally, saying recent price rises were responsible for “quite a bit of cost growth.”",{"type":580,"attrs":602,"content":603},{"textAlign":49},[604],{"text":605,"type":585},"Chinese battery grade lithium carbonate prices have surged by over 480% over the past year and fell only 2% in the last two weeks of April as strict Covid-19 lockdowns in Shanghai hampered logistics and demand, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Price Assessment.",{"type":580,"attrs":607,"content":608},{"textAlign":49},[609],{"text":610,"type":585},"That’s helped push up battery prices and the costs of electric vehicles.",{"type":580,"attrs":612,"content":613},{"textAlign":49},[614],{"text":615,"type":585},"“We think we’re going to need to help the industry on this front,” Musk said on the company’s earnings conference call. “I’d certainly encourage entrepreneurs out there who are looking for opportunities to get into the lithium business. Lithium margins right now are practically software margins.”",{"type":580,"attrs":617,"content":618},{"textAlign":49},[619],{"text":620,"type":585},"Despite China’s lockdown measures, which have shut down Shanghai since March, lithium supply still remains constricted and overall downstream demand continues to be robust, Daisy Jennings-Gray, an analyst at Benchmark said.",{"type":580,"attrs":622,"content":623},{"textAlign":49},[624],{"text":625,"type":585},"Benchmark assessed that the slight downtrend in carbonate pricing in April was not indicative of a wider market correction, but rather a temporary pause, hampering the market due to COVID measures, with strong fundamentals and tight supply expected to regain influence on the market in the coming months.",{"type":580,"attrs":627,"content":628},{"textAlign":49},[629],{"text":630,"type":585},"Since Benchmark’s mid-April assessment, transactions for battery grade lithium carbonate further decreased by almost 2% from an average of RMB 467,000/tonne ($73,325).",{"type":580,"attrs":632,"content":633},{"textAlign":49},[634],{"text":635,"type":585},"Transactions for hydroxide saw a decrease of nearly 1% from the mid-April average of RMB 496,500/tonne ($77,950) (EXW China).",{"type":580,"attrs":637,"content":638},{"textAlign":49},[639],{"text":640,"type":585},"Benchmark’s global weighted average lithium hydroxide prices rose by 527% year-over-year as of March.",{"type":580,"attrs":642,"content":643},{"textAlign":49},[644,646,652],{"text":645,"type":585},"Automakers such as Tesla have been so far protected by higher lithium prices due to long-term ",{"text":647,"type":585,"marks":648},"contracts",[649],{"type":595,"attrs":650},{"href":651,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":598},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/tesla-signs-three-year-lithium-supply-deal-with-chinas-ganfeng-lithium",{"text":653,"type":585}," they have signed with lithium producers. But Musk said Tesla could see “potentially significant cost increases” next year as its contracts with lithium suppliers run out.",{"type":580,"attrs":655,"content":656},{"textAlign":49},[657],{"text":658,"type":585},"Tesla has pledged to grow sales by 50% a year and Musk said the company would produce 1.5 million electric vehicles this year.",{"type":580,"attrs":660,"content":661},{"textAlign":49},[662],{"text":663,"type":585},"Earlier this month Musk said Tesla might enter the lithium mining and refining business itself if costs did not improve. But Jennings-Gray said that bringing on a new lithium mine typically takes between five to ten years without an acquisition.",{"type":580,"attrs":665,"content":666},{"textAlign":49},[667],{"text":668,"type":585},"“Can more people please get into the lithium business?” Musk said on Wednesday. “Do you like minting money? Well, the lithium business is for you.”","Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk pleaded for more investment in the lithium sector to help tame record high prices and reduce rising battery costs, saying margins for mining companies were now similar to the software industry. Musk said on Wednesday that mining and refining of lithium was the biggest “limiting factor” for electric vehicle adoption […]",[671],{"slug":568,"name":569,"content":672},{"job_title":571,"image":673,"bio":574,"linkedin":575},{"filename":573},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"000130c6-f699-4ccf-b091-915ff9c6e2cc\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[677,680],{"slug":678,"name":679},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":592,"name":8},"private",{"id":49,"alt":683,"name":683,"focus":683,"title":683,"source":683,"filename":684,"copyright":683,"fieldtype":685,"meta_data":686,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/70c690335e/bm-tesla-photo.jpg","asset",{"alt":683,"title":683,"source":683,"copyright":683},"Apr 21, 2022","21st April 2022",[],[],1789982592339]