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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[528,529,530,532,534,536,538,540,542,544,546,548],{"date":228,"value":522},{"date":257,"value":523},{"date":260,"value":531},99.19,{"date":471,"value":533},96.02,{"date":474,"value":535},98.23,{"date":477,"value":537},99.24,{"date":335,"value":539},101.29,{"date":345,"value":541},87.61,{"date":347,"value":543},92.44,{"date":350,"value":545},90.96,{"date":353,"value":547},92.24,{"date":356,"value":549},95.09,{"id":551,"uuid":552,"name":553,"slug":554,"full_slug":555,"content":556,"relatedArticles":838,"relatedVideos":839},112472455814367,"aee6fed1-aef9-418d-a110-8d602453bd8f","VW, Mercedes head to Canada seeking raw materials but can it meet automaker demand?","vw-mercedes-head-to-canada-seeking-raw-materials-but-can-it-meet-automaker-demand","article/vw-mercedes-head-to-canada-seeking-raw-materials-but-can-it-meet-automaker-demand",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":572,"content":582,"excerpt":802,"featured":50,"reporter":803,"_editable":807,"component":808,"seo_title":553,"categories":809,"visibility":830,"author_company":49,"featured_image":831,"seo_description":802,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":836,"formattedArticleDate":837},"ab471eba-8703-4802-82b1-38d48f0df402","2022-08-26 00:00",[560,563,566,569],{"slug":561,"name":562},"canada","Canada",{"slug":564,"name":565},"data-visualisation","Data Visualisation",{"slug":567,"name":568},"mercedes-benz","Mercedes Benz",{"slug":570,"name":571},"volkswagen","Volkswagen",[573],{"slug":574,"name":575,"content":576},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":577,"image":578,"bio":580,"linkedin":581},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":579},"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":583,"content":584},"doc",[585,592,597,612,625,637,642,645,652,657,662,667,672,677,682,687,692,697,702,707,712,717,722,727,732,737,742,754,759,764,769,774,779,784,789],{"type":586,"attrs":587,"content":588},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[589],{"text":590,"type":591},"Canada is a key target for automakers looking to secure battery raw materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel for the North American market. This week Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz signed agreements with the government of prime minister Justin Trudeau, announcing their intention to source and produce battery materials in the country.","text",{"type":586,"attrs":593,"content":594},{"textAlign":49},[595],{"text":596,"type":591},"The high-level visit highlights the strategic importance the world’s largest automakers are placing on localising battery raw materials and reducing reliance on China. Volkswagen said there were “significant prospects” to “ramp up cathode material production together with partners and to offer Canadian suppliers an opportunity to act as raw material suppliers, refiners and processors.”",{"type":586,"attrs":598,"content":599},{"textAlign":49},[600,602,610],{"text":601,"type":591},"The recently passed ",{"text":603,"type":591,"marks":604},"US Inflation Reduction Act",[605],{"type":606,"attrs":607},"link",{"href":608,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":609},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/can-the-us-meet-the-critical-mineral-requirements-of-the-climate-bill","url",{"text":611,"type":591}," incentivises automakers to source or process critical battery minerals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite, in the US or in a country with which it has a Free Trade Agreement such as Canada in order to receive tax credits. It also stipulates that the majority of the components of a battery such as cathodes are made in North America starting in 2024.",{"type":586,"attrs":613,"content":614},{"textAlign":49},[615,617,623],{"text":616,"type":591},"“Not only does Canada have access to a wide range of raw materials like lithium, nickel and cobalt, but it also has the industrial basis and infrastructure and most importantly the energy is ",{"text":618,"type":591,"marks":619},"CO2 free",[620],{"type":606,"attrs":621},{"href":622,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":609},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/clean-energy-lures-gm-posco-and-basf-cathode-projects-to-quebec",{"text":624,"type":591},",” Hebert Diess, Volkswagen’s chief executive, said.",{"type":586,"attrs":626,"content":627},{"textAlign":49},[628,630,635],{"text":629,"type":591},"Yet Canada may struggle to produce enough raw materials and ",{"text":631,"type":591,"marks":632},"cathode",[633],{"type":606,"attrs":634},{"href":622,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":609},{"text":636,"type":591}," this decade to meet expected demand for electric vehicles, according to Benchmark, without significant further investment. While lithium and graphite could meet up to half of North American demand, it could be harder for nickel and cobalt.",{"type":586,"attrs":638,"content":639},{"textAlign":49},[640],{"text":641,"type":591},"“If there’s a bifurcation of supply chains between the West and China and automakers are willing to pay a premium to have that nickel from an allied country, which will help them meet the requirements of the IRA then new mines could come on,” Greg Miller, an analyst at Benchmark, said. “But it’s still a bit of a long shot.”",{"type":586,"attrs":643,"content":644},{"textAlign":49},[],{"type":646,"attrs":647,"content":649},"heading",{"level":648,"textAlign":49},4,[650],{"text":651,"type":591},"Nickel ambitions",{"type":586,"attrs":653,"content":654},{"textAlign":49},[655],{"text":656,"type":591},"Canada currently accounts for 4% of global refined nickel production, which is set to fall to 3% by the end of the decade, according to Benchmark. While new projects are under development in Canada, no new operations are expected to begin before 2026.",{"type":586,"attrs":658,"content":659},{"textAlign":49},[660],{"text":661,"type":591},"Canada hosts two major nickel refiners – Vale and Sherritt. Vale refines nickel sulphides from its Subdury, Manitoba and Long Harbor operations, while Sherritt refines intermediates imported from Moa Bay (Cuba) at its Fort Saskatchewan facility.",{"type":586,"attrs":663,"content":664},{"textAlign":49},[665],{"text":666,"type":591},"Vale already has a long-term contract with Tesla to supply nickel to the US from its operations in Canada. It’s also looking at building a nickel sulphate plant in Quebec designed to process 25,000 tonnes of contained nickel into nickel sulphate a year for batteries, near the site of a planned cathode plant being built by Posco and GM.",{"type":586,"attrs":668,"content":669},{"textAlign":49},[670],{"text":671,"type":591},"While Canada could satisfy half of North American battery demand for nickel by 2030, the battery industry will compete with the plating industry and other premium end use markets, according to Miller.",{"type":586,"attrs":673,"content":674},{"textAlign":49},[675],{"text":676,"type":591},"In addition, a glut of supply from Indonesia will likely lower nickel prices making it less attractive to start new mines in the country, according to Miller.",{"type":646,"attrs":678,"content":679},{"level":648,"textAlign":49},[680],{"text":681,"type":591},"Cobalt refining capacity  ",{"type":586,"attrs":683,"content":684},{"textAlign":49},[685],{"text":686,"type":591},"On the cobalt front, Canada is forecast to grow its mining volume share to 8,600 tonnes in 2030, from 6,000 tonnes this year, according to the Benchmark Cobalt Forecast. That’s about 15% of the forecast North American demand by that date.",{"type":586,"attrs":688,"content":689},{"textAlign":49},[690],{"text":691,"type":591},"Canada’s share of global cobalt mining is expected to be just about 2% by 2030, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo expected to maintain its dominance in the supply chain.",{"type":586,"attrs":693,"content":694},{"textAlign":49},[695],{"text":696,"type":591},"Since the DRC is not a free trade agreement country another option is to process or refine cobalt in Canada. Electra is building a refinery in Ontario that is due to start production at the end of this year.",{"type":586,"attrs":698,"content":699},{"textAlign":49},[700],{"text":701,"type":591},"“Our recent travels to potential downstream clients across North America tell us that all stakeholders are getting behind an onshoring strategy. It’s a marked change in tone from two years ago where it was a stepped approach,” Trent Mell, chief executive of Electra, said this month. “Today, it’s all hands on deck and this bill [the IRA] is only going to help further that.”",{"type":586,"attrs":703,"content":704},{"textAlign":49},[705],{"text":706,"type":591},"Cobalt refining in Canada is expected to be slightly higher at 11,000 tonnes in 2030, or about 3.8% of the global supply then.",{"type":646,"attrs":708,"content":709},{"level":648,"textAlign":49},[710],{"text":711,"type":591},"Canada’s lithium prospects ",{"type":586,"attrs":713,"content":714},{"textAlign":49},[715],{"text":716,"type":591},"Canada’s lithium supply outlook is perhaps the brightest due to new projects such as the James Bay mine in Quebec being built by Allkem as well as revived projects such as Nemaska Lithium, in which Livent holds a 50% stake.",{"type":586,"attrs":718,"content":719},{"textAlign":49},[720],{"text":721,"type":591},"Allkem says the James Bay mine will be completed by 2025.",{"type":586,"attrs":723,"content":724},{"textAlign":49},[725],{"text":726,"type":591},"In April Chinese lithium producer Yahua agreed to invest CAD 5m ($4m) in Canadian lithium explorer Ultra Lithium, in exchange for a 13.2% stake. It also bought a 60% stake in the Forgan Lake and Georgia Lake pegmatite lithium projects in Ontario, Canada",{"type":586,"attrs":728,"content":729},{"textAlign":49},[730],{"text":731,"type":591},"Canada’s lithium supply is forecast to rise to 137,992 tonnes LCE in 2030 from 2,256 tonnes this year, according to the Benchmark Lithium Forecast. That would be about 40% of North America’s forecast battery demand by that date.",{"type":586,"attrs":733,"content":734},{"textAlign":49},[735],{"text":736,"type":591},"Mercedes said it is exploring a strategic partnership with Rock Tech Lithium under which the Vancouver-based company would supply 10,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide annually, starting in 2026. Rock Tech is expected to supply Mercedes with lithium from a processing facility in Guben, Brandenburg. The company is also developing a mine in Georgia Lake, Canada, however.",{"type":646,"attrs":738,"content":739},{"level":648,"textAlign":49},[740],{"text":741,"type":591},"Cathode opportunities ",{"type":586,"attrs":743,"content":744},{"textAlign":49},[745,747,752],{"text":746,"type":591},"There have been a significant number of ",{"text":748,"type":591,"marks":749},"announcements",[750],{"type":606,"attrs":751},{"href":622,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":609},{"text":753,"type":591}," to build cathode plants in Canada over the past year, including plans by BASF, Umicore and Posco. Quebec’s abundant hydropower is a key attraction for these companies.",{"type":586,"attrs":755,"content":756},{"textAlign":49},[757],{"text":758,"type":591},"Belgium-based Umicore says it will combine “cathode and precursor materials manufacturing at a large industrial scale” at its plant in Loyalist, Ontario, which is set to start production at the end of 2025.",{"type":586,"attrs":760,"content":761},{"textAlign":49},[762],{"text":763,"type":591},"In March GM and Posco also said they will build a $400 million cathode plant in Bécancour, Quebec, to provide material for GM’s Ultium batteries.",{"type":586,"attrs":765,"content":766},{"textAlign":49},[767],{"text":768,"type":591},"Canada currently accounts for 0.02% of global cathode production capacity, which is set to rise to 2% by 2030, according to Benchmark’s Cathode Forecast.",{"type":646,"attrs":770,"content":771},{"level":648,"textAlign":49},[772],{"text":773,"type":591},"Where’s the graphite? ",{"type":586,"attrs":775,"content":776},{"textAlign":49},[777],{"text":778,"type":591},"Neither VW nor Mercedes mentioned graphite in their agreements, but Canada is home to a growing supply of natural flake graphite.",{"type":586,"attrs":780,"content":781},{"textAlign":49},[782],{"text":783,"type":591},"Canada is set to produce 322,000 tonnes of natural graphite in 2030, around 43% of North America’s forecast demand by that date.",{"type":586,"attrs":785,"content":786},{"textAlign":49},[787],{"text":788,"type":591},"Currently, the only graphite production in Canada comes from Northern Graphite’s Lac des Iles graphite mine, which it agreed to purchase from Imerys at the end of 2021.",{"type":586,"attrs":790,"content":791},{"textAlign":49},[792,794,800],{"text":793,"type":591},"Benchmark forecasts that Nouveau Monde is set to be Canada’s largest natural flake graphite producer where it is developing the Matawinie mine in Quebec, which Benchmark anticipates will enter commercial production in 2023. It also aims to process feedstock from Matawinie at its battery-grade spherical ",{"text":795,"type":591,"marks":796},"graphite",[797],{"type":606,"attrs":798},{"href":799,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":609},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/western-ev-makers-face-up-to-chinas-grip-on-graphite-market",{"text":801,"type":591}," purification facility in Bécancour.","Canada is a key target for automakers looking to secure battery raw materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel for the North American market. This week Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz signed agreements with the government of prime minister Justin Trudeau, announcing their intention to source and produce battery materials in the country. The high-level visit highlights […]",[804],{"slug":574,"name":575,"content":805},{"job_title":577,"image":806,"bio":580,"linkedin":581},{"filename":579},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"ab471eba-8703-4802-82b1-38d48f0df402\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[810,813,815,818,821,824,826,828],{"slug":811,"name":812},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":814,"name":115},"cobalt",{"slug":816,"name":817},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":819,"name":820},"ev","EV",{"slug":822,"name":823},"geopolitics","Geopolitics",{"slug":795,"name":825},"Graphite",{"slug":827,"name":8},"lithium",{"slug":829,"name":151},"nickel","private",{"id":49,"alt":832,"name":832,"focus":832,"title":832,"source":832,"filename":833,"copyright":832,"fieldtype":834,"meta_data":835,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/fb2064ceb6/bm-quebec-hydro-power-e1661528411907.jpg","asset",{"alt":832,"title":832,"source":832,"copyright":832},"Aug 26, 2022","26th August 2022",[],[],1788535213685]