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FOR LITHIUM","scramble-for-lithium","article/scramble-for-lithium",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":560,"content":570,"excerpt":725,"featured":50,"reporter":726,"_editable":730,"component":731,"seo_title":553,"categories":732,"visibility":741,"author_company":49,"featured_image":742,"seo_description":725,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":747,"formattedArticleDate":748},"324c4675-a737-43d6-afa2-7c51f6795d10","2019-05-12 00:00",[],[561],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":564},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":565,"image":566,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":567},"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":571,"content":572},"doc",[573,580,585,590,595,600,605,610,617,622,627,632,641,646,651,656,661,666,673,680,685,690,695,700,705,710,715,720],{"type":574,"attrs":575,"content":576},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[577],{"text":578,"type":579},"At the start of April 2019 Volkswagen and Ganfeng Lithium announced a landmark lithium supply, which is key to the auto giant’s electrification plans.","text",{"type":574,"attrs":581,"content":582},{"textAlign":49},[583],{"text":584,"type":579},"Volkswagen (VW) has taken a major step in securing the future of its bold electric vehicle (EV) production targets by locking in a long-term lithium supply deal with China’s Ganfeng Lithium.",{"type":574,"attrs":586,"content":587},{"textAlign":49},[588],{"text":589,"type":579},"While the details of the joint memorandum of understanding (MoU) have not been disclosed, the company said it would provide the foundation for the introduction of 70 electrified models over the coming 10 years.",{"type":574,"attrs":591,"content":592},{"textAlign":49},[593],{"text":594,"type":579},"VW Group Board Member for Components and Procurement, Dr. Stefan Sommer, said that the deal represented “crucial strategic significance for implementing Volkswagen’s electric offensive”.",{"type":574,"attrs":596,"content":597},{"textAlign":49},[598],{"text":599,"type":579},"This move brings the auto giant into closer alignment with the lithium ion supply chain, having hinted at developing its own megafactory production in March, which will require a secure supply base to achieve.",{"type":574,"attrs":601,"content":602},{"textAlign":49},[603],{"text":604,"type":579},"To date, Tesla and BMW are the only other auto OEMs outside of China to have directly secured lithium supply agreements.",{"type":574,"attrs":606,"content":607},{"textAlign":49},[608],{"text":609,"type":579},"A number of other battery and cathode producers have announced supply agreements over the past 18 months. However, with the margins at the battery and cathode section of the supply chain tightening, and with public markets failing to deliver financing of projects at the scale or speed required, end-user intervention in the supply chain has become inevitable.",{"type":574,"attrs":611,"content":612},{"textAlign":49},[613,615],{"text":614,"type":579},"Ganfeng already has supply agreements in place with BMW and LG Chem, amongst other stakeholders. To meet their supply agreements Ganfeng will need to continue its aggressive",{"text":616,"type":579},"lithium expansions, with the company aiming to take its production capacity to 75,000 tonnes in 2019 from an output of 30,000 last year.",{"type":574,"attrs":618,"content":619},{"textAlign":49},[620],{"text":621,"type":579},"The company has a solid foundation of feedstock material through a number of partnerships, such as the Mt Marion project in Australia, Lithium Americas Cauchari-Olaroz development, and with agreements with Pilbara and Altura. However, despite their strong resource base it’s unlikely that the company will be able to fully meet their production target for the year.",{"type":574,"attrs":623,"content":624},{"textAlign":49},[625],{"text":626,"type":579},"Ganfeng was one of a number of the lithium industry’s majors to have listed last year, along with Tianqi and Livent (formerly FMC Lithium). But in the past year Ganfeng has outshone its peers, having been one of the only majors to commit to significant deals with key downstream consumers publicly. The other players are still unwilling to accept the big discounts which are being pushed by many OEMs.",{"type":574,"attrs":628,"content":629},{"textAlign":49},[630],{"text":631,"type":579},"Not only has Ganfeng unveiled a flurry of deals but it is also one of the few majors to successfully introduce new capacity on time and close to capacity. This is in a period where brine companies have struggled to meet expansion plans, such as Albemarle’s freeze on its La Negra expansion.",{"type":574,"attrs":633,"content":634},{"textAlign":49},[635,637,639],{"text":636,"type":579},"From VW’s perspective the move was necessary to support its EV rollout, which ",{"text":638,"type":579},"Benchmark ",{"text":640,"type":579},"estimates will require 1,500GWh of cell production over the next 10 years. VW have for some time shown considerable interest in securing lithium and cobalt – including hosting two supply-side summits in late-2017 for the two minerals. The Ganfeng deal marks the first major success of VW’s raw material strategy, which is core to their electrification plans.",{"type":574,"attrs":642,"content":643},{"textAlign":49},[644],{"text":645,"type":579},"Going into detail on the group’s plans, Sommer said “over the next ten years the Volkswagen Group will be launching 70-plus new pure electric vehicles. That means approximately a quarter of the vehicles we deliver in 2025 will be powered by electricity.",{"type":574,"attrs":647,"content":648},{"textAlign":49},[649],{"text":650,"type":579},"“Consequently, there will be a rapid increase in our raw material demand for cell production in the coming years. We must make sure we cover this demand at an early stage. Long-term agreements like the one for lithium, a key raw material, that we have just concluded with Ganfeng are therefore of crucial strategic significance for implementing our electric offensive.”",{"type":574,"attrs":652,"content":653},{"textAlign":49},[654],{"text":655,"type":579},"NOT JUST LITHIUM",{"type":574,"attrs":657,"content":658},{"textAlign":49},[659],{"text":660,"type":579},"VW’s deal with Ganfeng could well be followed up on with deals for other key battery raw materials. Following the Ganfeng announcement VW outlined their view on the supply chain in more detail.",{"type":574,"attrs":662,"content":663},{"textAlign":49},[664],{"text":665,"type":579},"The group paid attention to cobalt’s role in cathode materials, stating that “the percentage of this raw material is to be reduced from its present 12 to 14 percent (weight proportion in the cathode) to five percent within the next three to five years. Volkswagen is working on further development of cobalt-free batteries.”",{"type":574,"attrs":667,"content":668},{"textAlign":49},[669,671],{"text":670,"type":579},"Benchmark",{"text":672,"type":579},"’s analysis shows that cobalt’s use in battery cathodes at a cell level is set to decline, with trends moving towards NCM (nickel, cobalt, manganese) chemistries of 811, driven by demands from OEMs for increased energy density and fears for security of supply.",{"type":574,"attrs":674,"content":675},{"textAlign":49},[676,678],{"text":677,"type":579},"However, while at a cell level cobalt’s use will decrease, cobalt demand is still set to soar",{"text":679,"type":579},"as battery production increases, in turn OEM’s exposure to cobalt will significantly increase as they undertake electrification projects. Consequently, similar deals to the VW-Ganfeng deal are likely in the cobalt space.",{"type":574,"attrs":681,"content":682},{"textAlign":49},[683],{"text":684,"type":579},"ARE JUNIORS SET TO BENEFIT?",{"type":574,"attrs":686,"content":687},{"textAlign":49},[688],{"text":689,"type":579},"Volkswagen added that it “has set itself the goal of promoting lithium production in Europe in the medium term – there are relevant deposits in Central and Southern Europe, for example. Several production steps are required before the lithium enters the cell: First, the raw material is extracted from the rock, then processed in chemical processes to produce concentrate and hydroxide, then processed with cobalt, manganese and nickel to form a mixed oxide, applied to an aluminium foil, inserted as a wound foil into the cell housing and mixed with electrolytes. As many of these steps as possible are to be implemented in Europe in the future.”",{"type":574,"attrs":691,"content":692},{"textAlign":49},[693],{"text":694,"type":579},"VW’s suggested involvement is significant to European lithium junior miners. There is a strong European lithium pipeline developing with notable developments in Serbia, Portugal, Spain, and Hungary, which VW is referring to.",{"type":574,"attrs":696,"content":697},{"textAlign":49},[698],{"text":699,"type":579},"This is also significant to the wider supply chain, as VW suggests it wants to centre more of the supply chain’s key components in Europe, whether it be the mining operations, chemical processing or cathode production.",{"type":574,"attrs":701,"content":702},{"textAlign":49},[703],{"text":704,"type":579},"For a continent with bold megafactory plans but little raw material or processing capacity these developments would be a milestone in moves towards Europe playing a role in the earlier stages of the supply chain, which today it does not.",{"type":574,"attrs":706,"content":707},{"textAlign":49},[708],{"text":709,"type":579},"However, the VW-Ganfeng announcement does not necessarily suggest that the next stage will be a flurry of OEMs investing directly in the supply chain.",{"type":574,"attrs":711,"content":712},{"textAlign":49},[713],{"text":714,"type":579},"These decisions are still dependent on the cathode and cell producers who ultimately hold the keys to the next step of the supply chain. This is particularly important with developments in cathode chemistry, which affect the type and specification of lithium required to meet these demands.",{"type":574,"attrs":716,"content":717},{"textAlign":49},[718],{"text":719,"type":579},"Long-term contracts and offtake agreements remain the route for OEMs to secure raw material supplies, but as these companies become more desperate for raw materials and the space becomes more competitive then we may see OEMs take a more direct role.",{"type":574,"attrs":721,"content":722},{"textAlign":49},[723],{"text":724,"type":579},"VW is not an isolated case and auto makers are becoming increasingly aware of the needs to secure lithium supply to meet EV targets. The VW-Ganfeng announcement looks like the beginning of a phase in which the auto industry’s incumbents become involved in a scramble for lithium and other raw materials. Whether this will played out through offtakes, long-term contracts or even closer alignment from OEMs is yet to be seen.","At the start of April 2019 Volkswagen and Ganfeng Lithium announced a landmark lithium supply, which is key to the auto giant’s electrification plans. Volkswagen (VW) has taken a major step in securing the future of its bold electric vehicle (EV) production targets by locking in a long-term lithium supply deal with China’s Ganfeng Lithium. […]",[727],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":728},{"job_title":565,"image":729,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},{"filename":567},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"324c4675-a737-43d6-afa2-7c51f6795d10\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[733,736,739],{"slug":734,"name":735},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":737,"name":738},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":740,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":743,"name":743,"focus":743,"title":743,"source":743,"filename":744,"copyright":743,"fieldtype":745,"meta_data":746,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/6c23e97624/bm-istock-1057516818.jpg","asset",{"alt":743,"title":743,"source":743,"copyright":743},"May 12, 2019","12th May 2019",[],[],1789748879005]