Northvolt’s sodium-ion battery is based on a hard-carbon anode and a Prussian White-based cathode, and the Swedish battery manufacturer plans to be the first to industrialize and commercialize Prussian White-based batteries. 

“Our next step is to present these batteries to customers during 2024, and then gradually establish and scale up production throughout the following years,” Northvolt told Fastmarkets. 

The company is still in the process of finding partners to scale up this technology. 

Northvolt’s sodium-ion battery technology is primarily designed for energy storage system (ESS), with a potential application for electric vehicles in the future. 

“The low cost and safety at high temperatures make the technology especially attractive for ESS in the upcoming markets including India, the Middle East and Africa,” the company said in a statement. 

Sodium-ion batteries have a lower cost and are less reliant on critical raw materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium, which makes sodium-ion batteries an attractive alternative to lithium-ion batteries like lithium-iron-phosphate, nickel-cobalt-manganese and nickel-cobalt-aluminum batteries. 

However, the decline in lithium chemical prices since late 2022 amid slowdown in electric vehicle growth has sparked a debate on the need for sodium-ion batteries as an alternative battery to lithium-ion batteries.

Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment of lithium carbonate 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery grade, spot price range exw domestic China was 141,00-150,000 yuan per tonne on November 16, down from 590,000-605,000 yuan per tonne on November 17, 2022. 

Fastmarkets’ research team has forecast that the global sodium-ion battery usage for ESS is 0.1% in 2023 and will reach up to 9% by 2033. Currently, 70-80% of the battery used for ESS is LFP, with 95% of the overall batteries for ESS being lithium-ion batteries.

Keep up to date with the latest lithium prices, data and forecasts on our dedicated lithium price page.

The post Northvolt first company outside China to develop sodium-ion battery with 160 Wh/kg energy density appeared first on Fastmarkets.

Several exporters have reported obtaining licenses to ship gallium out of China in the past two weeks, after the country’s gallium and germanium export controls came into effect on August 1.

So far, the licenses have been granted for shipments to consumers, Fastmarkets understands, with no exports to traders having yet been approved.

In light of the licenses being granted, some market participants expected the prices for gallium in China to increase, when foreign demand returned to the market.

A change in sentiment does appear to have materialized in China’s gallium market, where prices have increased on five consecutive weekly pricing sessions after plummeting when the export control was imposed.

The assessed price for gallium 99.99% Ga min, in-whs China was 2,000-2,100 yuan ($277-292) per kg on September 22 – the last session before China’s national holidays. This marked a 6.49% increase from the 1,900-1,950 yuan per tonne on September 15.

“It’s because of hope [that foreign demand will push up prices],” one market participant said.

Any price relief from material being shipped out of China has not yet emerged in Europe.

Fastmarkets’ twice-weekly price assessment for gallium 99.99% Ga min, in-whs Rotterdam was $ 400-450 per kg on October 4, unchanged since September 8, but up from $250-265 per kg on June 30, which was the last price assessment before the Chinese government announced the export curbs on July 3.

Gallium is particularly vulnerable to supply disruption due to the concentration of its production in China. According to the US Geological Survey, China contributes some 98% of global production.

But market participants have indicated that the new controls may prove to be a boon for the establishment of Western production.

As for germanium – also covered under the export control – China is similarly the dominant producing country, with almost 68% of global production, yet overall production is more diversified, so the price impact of China’s export controls has been more restrained.

Hafnium demand stable, panic dissipates

The whirlwind price increase for hafnium over the last 18 months has generated much buzz in the market.

Driven by the metal’s inelastic supply, increased demand for superalloys generated by a post-pandemic return of the aerospace sector, and new consumption from the electronics sector, prices have increased to record highs.

Fastmarkets’ bi-weekly assessed price for hafnium, max 1% Zr, in-whs global locations was $5,200-7,100 per kg on September 22, stable from the previous session, but nearly four times higher than the $1,640-1,750 per kg a year earlier, on September 23, 2022.

The metal is used in high-performance super-alloys, particularly for aerospace, and can be used for high-performance computer chips.

Hafnium has been used in semiconductors since at least the mid-2000s. In 2007, Intel announced its deployment of two dramatically new materials to build the insulating walls and switching gates of its 45 nanometer transistors.

Since then, little information has been made public about how, and in what quantities hafnium is being used in the semiconductor industry.

However, reports suggest that top-end dynamic random-access semiconductor memory (DRAM) uses a thin layer of a hafnium-based material on top of its capacitors to insulate and block current leakage.

New demand for chips to support new artificial intelligence (AI) applications was particularly important for the metal’s recent price increase, according to a market participant.

Strong demand for the metal persists, according to the contact, though initial panic while consumers rushed to secure supply has somewhat dissipated.

“It is easier to buy today than it was six months ago, and there is material available in Europe… but consumers needing material in the short term can expect to pay higher prices,” they said.

Despite better availability, the market is still not yet in oversupply.

“There still isn’t plenty of material, and some of the large producers are presold for most of next year,” the contact said.

Indium fundamentals still weak, market participants say

Despite a recent price increase driven by speculation in China, market participants told Fastmarkets that demand for the metal – particularly reliant on macro-economic and consumer sentiment – is soft.

Sources observed a continued reduction in demand for products using indium, including some types of consumer electronic batteries that use the metal to stabilize zinc, indium tin oxide (ITO) which is used in LCD screens and indium-based compounds used in semiconductors.

“My feeling is that going into next year the price will decrease,” a market participant said.

A second market participant observed that the chemicals sector had been particularly badly impacted by poor macro-economics and consumer sentiment.

Fastmarkets’ twice weekly price assessment for indium 99.99%, in-whs Rotterdam was $245-290 per kg on October 4, stable compared with the previous assessment on September 29.

Indium prices increased dramatically in the wake of the export controls on gallium and germanium, with market participants pointing to speculative action on the Liyang Zhonglianjin e-exchange as driving this increase in China.

Despite the higher prices in China, which produces and consumes most of the world’s indium, market participants report that lower prices are available outside the country.

Follow all the latest LME Week insights by visiting our dedicated content hub.

The post China grants gallium, germanium export licences; hafnium prices stable; indium fundamentals weak: LME Week appeared first on Fastmarkets.

The lower price for lithium carbonate has made it more difficult for sodium-ion batteries to be seen as an attractive alternative for energy storage systems (ESS) and electric vehicles (EVs), cell makers at the conference told Fastmarkets.

“Now that the lithium carbonate price is lower, and lithium iron phosphate [LFP] batteries are proven to be efficient and commercially viable, we don’t really need sodium-ion batteries any more,” a consumer said.

Another issue with sodium-ion batteries is that there is no established supply chain other than the one inside China. This means that if original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and cell makers want to use sodium-ion batteries, they will need to establish the supply chain, whereas there already is an established supply chain for LFP batteries.

ESS stakeholders also said that the sodium-ion battery technology does not have a sufficient life cycle to meet the needs for ESS investors. Energy density is an important factor for ESS because the projects want to have longer duration.

Despite all these obstacles, many conference attendees told Fastmarkets that sodium-ion batteries will not be completely discarded, because the trends for batteries are changing inconsistently.

“We are all waiting to see how the sodium-ion batteries market develops in China,” a consultant source said. “I guess China has become the model to follow when establishing anything new in the battery market.”

2. EU black mass market awaits ‘level playing field’ on export codes

Participants in the market for black mass expressed their frustration at the current lack of a level playing field for black mass exports from the EU.

Under current rules, certain black mass generators are allowed by their local governments to export the material as a “product” that can be shipped anywhere in the world.

Other EU battery-shredding operations – including many which have requested licenses recently – see their black mass output treated as a hazardous waste. This means that they must follow procedures under the Basel Convention and are prevented from exporting to nations outside of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

“From next year, that will all change,” Elewout Depicker said. He is vice-president for commercial and corporate development, Europe-Middle East-Asia, for Switzerland-based Li-Cycle. “From June, all [black mass] streams will be classified as hazardous,” he added. “[This means that] trade routes to nations including Malaysia will be closed.”

3. Price premium required for non-Chinese manganese sulfate, producers say

Prominent ex-China producers of battery-grade manganese sulfate reiterated that material produced outside of China, which currently dominates global production, will require a significant premium.

Madelein Todd, chief marketing officer at leading high-purity manganese metal producer Manganese Metal Co (MMC), was emphatic on this point.

“High purity manganese refined outside of China will cost you more than you thought or hoped… I don’t think I can state that any clearer,” she said in a presentation providing an outlook on the market.

MMC intends to supply its high-purity metal for the production of manganese sulfate while also working toward introducing its own manganese sulfate production.

Although non-Chinese manganese sulfate would require a premium, Todd said that the overall effect on battery cell cost would be limited, with the material representing a relatively minor input cost in EV battery chemistries such as nickel–manganese–cobalt (NMC).

4. Industry calls for further government support in Europe

Ahead of the conference, on September 13, the European Commission launched an investigation into whether to impose tariffs on cheaper Chinese EVs being sold into the region, in order to protect domestic producers.

These investigations are in line with other measures such as the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), which was passed to encourage improvement in the domestic supply chains for the EV sector within Europe.

But participants across the value chain expressed the view that the current measures were not enough.

“Europe is at risk of being left behind, particularly when you look at the initiatives in the United States,” one trader said on the sidelines of the conference, referring to the US’ Inflation Reduction Act.
Comparisons between the IRA and the EU’s measures were commonplace among delegates.

Speaking about reports of potential tariffs, one consumer told Fastmarkets that “it is still not enough, in our view.” The consumer added that there are significant concerns over the higher costs of raw material and production in Europe.

5. Sustainability pricing is front-of-mind for full value chain

Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important focus for OEMs, so expectations of further restrictions – or incentives – around the carbon intensity of batteries have meant that discussions about sustainable or “green” premiums were common at the conference.

Many participants still said, however, that they felt the industry was a long way from such prices being widely implemented.

Discussions about the trade-offs involved in the production of sustainable materials were dominated by beliefs that end-users must be willing to pay the additional costs involved.

“In order for us to produce green material, we need to be confident that consumers are willing to cover the additional cost for us to remain competitive,” one producer told Fastmarkets.

One cathode active material (CAM) producer noted their belief that the lack of definition for sustainability within the industry “remains a significant bottleneck.”

Premiums linked to sustainability are not umcommon in raw materials markets, with the aluminium and steel markets proving their potential.

Some consumers at the conference said that there was a willingness to pay an additional premium for green material but, as one consumer said: “We also still have to remain competitive.”

Keep up to date with the latest news and insights on our dedicated battery materials market page.

The post Five things we learned at the European Battery Raw Materials Conference 2023 appeared first on Fastmarkets.

The problem created by this gap between commercial value and strategic value has arisen because Western companies have not been able to make the production and security of these materials economically viable for them. This has led to Chinese companies being able to monopolize the supply of these critical materials.

China imposed export controls on gallium and germanium with effect from August 1. This has increased the level of criticality for these metals, especially gallium, because 98% of gallium production is in China.

It has also increased the risk for the costs of gallium and germanium, which can be used in semiconductor chips including those in electric vehicles (EVs), because the prices for these metals can shoot up due to difficulties in exporting the materials out of China.

Fastmarkets’ twice-weekly price assessment for gallium, 99.99% Ga min, in-whs Rotterdam, was $265-301 per kg on July 5, the first assessment after China’s Ministry of Commerce announced the export controls on gallium and germanium. That was up from the preceding assessment at $250-265 per kg on June 30. The most recent assessment, on September 13, was $400-450 per kg.

Similarly, Fastmarkets’ twice-weekly price assessment for germanium, 99.999% Ge, in-whs Rotterdam, was $1,350-1,400 per kg on July 5, up from $1,300-1,400 per kg on June 30. The latest assessment was $1,390-1,500 per kg on September 13.

New production?

Starting up new production outside China would take finance and time. In the case of gallium, recycling the kind of imperfect gallium chips that cannot be used in semiconductors is how the Western market has been able to make up the deficit.

“We have not had anyone who has announced a follow-up on this news and intended to produce more gallium or germanium,” Pilch said.

“It will come down to whether it is viable or feasible. What is the profit margin? Who is going to pay for it, if you had to pay a little extra to get it from China? Is the manufacturing company willing to cover that? Is the US government going to pay for that? We know that the UK government is not going to pay for that, and the EU is also very unlikely to do so,” she added.

Pilch told Fastmarkets that governments run into difficulty when choosing which critical raw materials to prioritize. Gallium and germanium are among other critical raw materials such as cobalt, lithium and nickel, which are all also required for EVs and as a part of the wider energy transition.

“We can’t see governments supporting the whole supply chain… The question remains: how do we provide the product that consumers can afford?” Pilch said. “Where Western markets can take the lead is in high-spec stuff, not in mass production. Volume gain is where China is good.”

Affordable EVs

The European Commission launched an anti-subsidy investigation into EVs from China on September 13, to look into whether to impose tariffs to protect the EU against Chinese EV imports that benefit from state subsidies.

“The global markets are now flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars… This is distorting our market,” Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said.

“This anti-subsidy tariff would have a big effect on the adoption [of electric vehicles] if they [penalize] the only truly affordable EVs in the market,” Phoebe O’Hara, Fastmarkets’ battery raw materials analyst, said.

There is a lack of affordability for EVs in certain areas in Europe, O’Hara noted.

The graph shows how the average EV price is almost half of the average annual salary in Central and Eastern Europe.

“Central and Eastern Europe are always left behind in the electrification conversation in Europe,” O’Hara said.

In order for vehicle sales in Central and Eastern Europe to reach 100% EV penetration by 2035, 2 million EV sales will be required between 2033 and 2035, according to Fastmarkets’ research.

So far, however, EV sales were only 39,000 vehicles in 2020, 72,000 vehicles in 2021 and 89,000 vehicles in 2023.

It is not only certain regions that will be excluded from the change to electrification, however, it is also the low-income families in all regions, who are likely to be left behind.

“Some low-income families will not be able to afford a brand new Tesla,” Pilch said. “And public transport is absolutely terrible in the UK.”

With the rising cost of living, the energy crisis and a lack of disposal income, coupled with the potential rising cost for EVs due to the difficulties of securing critical raw materials such as gallium and germanium, the hurdle to complete electrification remains in place.

“There is a lot of talking but very little action,” Pilch said.

The post Critical materials create huge gap between ideology and reality of switch to EVs, CMIA says appeared first on Fastmarkets.

Many traders have told Fastmarkets that buying activity has been slower than usual in September even though consumers were coming back to the market after the summer holidays.

“Demand for our product is going down, and I’m not optimistic at the moment. It’s difficult to sell products, and sentiment is bad,” a consumer said.

“Last year, we had a lot of problems with energy costs, but we still saw good demand from customers – it was just the production problem. This year, the demand from customers is not really there. We are running at full capacity but there is no demand,” the same source added.

“As we enter September, there is still hesitation,” a European trader said. “When people come to buy, we are seeing inquiries here and there, and demand is slowly picking up, but this is regular business for small quantities. Business is a lot slower than usual in September; it is not above average.”

Current market sentiment was similar to what was seen before the Cobalt Congress 2023, with a weak global economy in which many countries were still trying to recover from the rising cost of living that has continued to put pressure on cobalt prices.

“People are not buying new phones, or new cars,” another trader based in Europe said. “Our cobalt customers are not buying because it costs them 9% interest on stocking. We don’t expect this to change for a while.”

LFP market share growth

The growing LFP share of the battery market has also contributed to the weaker demand from cobalt consumers.

NCM batteries remained dominant in the passenger vehicle space in the electric vehicle (EV) sector, where cobalt was one of the key materials needed to stabilize the NCM battery.

But the market share taken by LFP batteries was growing and it would soon become the most popular chemistry globally, according to Fastmarkets battery raw materials analyst Phoebe O’Hara.

According to Fastmarkets’ research, the NCM battery market shares by region in the first three quarters of 2023 were US 7%, Europe 9%, China 46%.

Looking 10 years ahead, Fastmarkets forecasts the corresponding market shares for NCM in the first three quarters of 2033 to be US 18%, Europe 33%, China 44%.

The majority of LFP batteries were currently used in China, but the affordability of EVs with LFP batteries has become more appealing to consumers and it was gradually becoming more popular in Europe and North America.

This added extra pressure to the weaker demand for cobalt, because there will be fewer NCM batteries used – unlike views taken by forecasts in the past. In addition, some original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were trying to use less cobalt in their NCM batteries, with a component ratio of NCM 811, rather than NCM 622 or NCM 111.

Low cobalt price attractive to investors

After mid-May this year, however, there was demand for cobalt from investors and traders because the low price made it attractive for investment purposes.

“Investors are not buying at the moment,” the second European trader said. “We are seeing some units coming out here and there from investors who are letting go of their units.”

The same trader expected to see more investor interest, similar to earlier in the year, at historical low prices, with investors looking to diversify their portfolios away from traditional energy commodities toward energy transition commodities such as cobalt.

Some market participants expected that the stockpiling by China’s State Reserve Bureau (SRB) would help to ease the pressure on cobalt prices.

“The Chinese economy is weak, but it is offset by relatively stable US and Western markets,” a North American trader said. “Buying among consumers is slow but the SRB stockpiling should help to support cobalt prices, by offsetting the oversupply of cobalt.”

Fastmarkets’ daily price assessment for cobalt, standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, was $13.50-14.75 per lb on September 14, compared with $16.30-18.50 per lb on July 19, when the price was at the height of its recovery from the historical low of $13.30-14.10 per lb on May 23.

But the alloy grade market remained at a premium to standard grade, due to the stronger superalloy market in the US, where there is limited availability of materials that the superalloy sector can take.

Some traders based in the US have told Fastmarkets that they were not able to participate in the alloy-grade market because they did not have materials to trade.

Fastmarkets’ daily price assessment for cobalt, alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, was $15.50-16.50 per lb on September 14, down compared with $18.30-19.80 on July 18, when the price was at the height of its recovery from the historical low of $13.80-15.30 per lb on May 30.

“A lot of our superalloy-grade consumer demand is for forward delivery,” a third trader said.

Cobalt oversupply raised concerns

Meanwhile, the oversupply of cobalt remained a concern for market participants, especially after mining company China Molybdenum (CMOC) reached a consensus on royalties with state-owned miner Gécamines in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which were at the root of a dispute that led to an export ban.

Market participants told Fastmarkets that logistics were still subject to disruption from DRC to the Port of Durban in South Africa, and that CMOC has only been able to ship out materials in small increments.

“The company is putting priority on getting materials out for customers with long-term contracts, to fill orders that could not be transported while the export ban was in place,” a market participant said.

“Since exports resumed in May, transport of the products has been going smoothly,” CMOC vice-president Zhou Jun said on September 6. “We expect to de-stock by the end of the month, when around 240,000 tonnes of copper will be transported.

“In addition,” he said, “the first batch of copper and cobalt products exported to China from the company’s KFM copper and cobalt mine in the DRC will also arrive at Ningbo Port in the near future.”

There was no mention of a specific volume of cobalt, however.

A source close to the matter told Fastmarkets that cobalt hydroxide from the DRC would be shipped in the second half of this month.

The depressed prices for cobalt sulfate and hydroxide have forced chemical producers to convert these into metal for a small profit, adding extra pressure on cobalt metal prices, market participants told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets’ twice-weekly assessment of the cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets’ standard-grade cobalt price (low-end), was 55-60% on September 13.

And the daily price assessment for cobalt hydroxide, 30% Co min, cif China, was $7.30-7.60 per lb on September 14.

“There is no demand for cobalt sulfate, and the cobalt hydroxide price is low. Chinese chemical producers are converting these into metal,” a producer source said.

In addition to chemicals being converted into metal, there was additional metal production by Chinese cobalt producer Hanrui.

“Hanrui has started [cobalt] metal production and it can easily deliver to China’s SRB for its plan to stockpile a large volume of cobalt metal,” the same source said.

Fastmarkets’ analysts forecast cobalt surpluses of 7,000 tonnes in 2023 and 14,000 tonnes in 2024.

Learn more about Fastmarkets’ cobalt long-term forecast

The Fastmarkets NewGen cobalt long-term forecast leverages our heritage in providing price data and market intelligence in the cobalt market. These insights are paired with expert economic modeling and data to provide market participants and investors with unmatched clarity on how the cobalt market will evolve in the next 10 years.
Learn more

The post Low demand, oversupply weigh on cobalt market | European Battery Raw Materials 2023 appeared first on Fastmarkets.

Market feedback received during the consultation was in support of Fastmarkets implementing this change for the metals listed above.

This consultation sought to ensure that Fastmarkets’ methodologies continue to reflect the physical market under assessment.

The updated specification of the price are as follows:

MB-BI-0001 Bismuth 99.99% Bi min, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb
Quality: Ingot. Bi 99.99%, no other elements specified
Quantity: Min 1 tonne
Location: Rotterdam
Timing: Prompt release, within ten calendar days
Unit: USD/lb
Payment terms: Cash, other payment terms normalized
Publication: Twice weekly. Wednesday and Friday 2-3pm London time
Notes: Original producer packaging

MB-CD-0001 Cadmium 99.95% min, cif global ports, cents/lb 
Quality: Sticks or ingots. Cd 99.95%, no other elements specified
Quantity: Min 10 tonnes
Location: CIF global port basis
Timing: Prompt release, within ten calendar days
Unit: US cents per lb
Payment terms: Cash, other payment terms normalized
Publication: Twice weekly. Wednesday and Friday 2-3pm London

MB-CD-0002 Cadmium 99.99% min, cif global ports, cents/lb 
Quality: Sticks or ingots. Cd 99.99%, no other elements specified
Quantity Min 10 tonnes
Location: cif global port basis
Timing: Prompt release, within ten calendar days
Unit: US cents per lb
Payment terms: Cash, other terms normalized
Publication: Twice weekly. Wednesday and Friday 2-3pm London time

MB-IN-0002 Indium 99.99%, in-whs Rotterdam, $/kg 
Quality: In: 99.99%, no other elements specified. Ingots, usually between 0.5kg and 3.5 kg; also 10 kg ingots
Quantity: Min 100kg
Location: In-whs Rotterdam
Timing: Prompt release, within ten calendar days
Unit: USD/kg
Payment terms: Cash, other terms normalized
Publication: Twice-weekly. Wednesday and Friday 2-3pm London time
Notes: Original producer wooden cases

MB-SE-0002 Selenium 99.5% Se min, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb 
Quality: Powder of minus 200 mesh or granules sizing 1-5 mm. Se 99.5% min, no other elements specified
Quantity: Min 250kg (+/-2%)
Location: In-whs Rotterdam
Timing: Prompt release, within ten calendar days
Unit: USD/lb
Payment terms: Cash, other terms normalized
Publication: Twice-weekly. Wednesday and Friday 2-3pm London time
Notes: Original producer packaging, normally 25kg net

MB-TE-0001 Tellurium 99.9-99.99% Te min, in-whs Rotterdam, $/kg 
Quality: Ingots, sticks or powder. Te 99.9- 99.99%, no other elements specified
Quantity: Min 100 kg (+/-2%)
Location: In-whs Rotterdam
Timing: Prompt release, within ten calendar days
Unit: USD/kg
Payment terms: Cash, other terms normalized
Publication: Twice-weekly. Wednesday and Friday between 2pm and 3pm London time
Notes: Original producer packaging

However, in light of the recent introduction of export controls from China and a lack of clarity as to how they will affect gallium, germanium metal and dioxide market dynamics, Fastmarkets continues to monitor the typical terms of trade in these markets and continue an informal consultation on this over coming weeks.

MB-GA-0001 Gallium 99.99% Ga min, in-whs Rotterdam, $/kg 
Quality: Ingot. Ga: 99.99% min, no other elements specified
Quantity: Min 100kg (+/- 2%)
Location: In-whs Rotterdam
Timing: Prompt release
Unit: USD/kg
Payment terms: Cash, other terms normalized
Publication: Twice weekly. Wednesday and Friday 2-3pm London time
Notes: Packed in plastic sleeves, original producer cases

MB-GER-0003 Germanium 99.999% Ge, in-whs Rotterdam, $/kg 
Quality: Min 100 kg (+/- 2%)
Quality: Ingot. Ge 99.999%, no other elements specified
Location: In-whs Rotterdam
Timing: Prompt release
Unit: USD/kg
Payment: Cash, other payment terms normalized
Publication: Twice-weekly. Wednesday and Friday between 2pm and 3pm London time
Notes: Packed in plastic sleeves, original producer cases

MB-GER-0001 Germanium dioxide, in-whs China, $/kg 
Quality: GeO2 99.99 % min, Ge 69 % approx. White powder
Quantity: Min 100 kg (+/- 2%)
Location: In-whs China
Timing: Prompt release
Unit: USD/kg
Payment terms: Cash, other payment terms normalized
Publication: Twice-weekly. Wednesday and Friday between 2pm and 3pm London time
Notes: Original producer cases, normally 25kg each

To provide feedback on this decision, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to minor metals prices. Please contact Sayaka Kurata and Solomon Cefai by email at pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Sayaka Kurata and Solomon Cefai, re: minor metals.”

To see all of Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology. 

The post Clarification of delivery timing for minor metals specifications appeared first on Fastmarkets.

The company will be responsible for engineering, equipment supply and installation of a fully integrated, closed-loop lithium-ion battery (LIB) recycling plant at Kuppenheim.

Collection and transport of products for recycling remained a challenge for economical and viable recycling for many companies. A recycling target of at least 15% was set as one of the targets in the European Commission’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA).

Primobius and Mercedes were trying to achieve this efficient collection and processing of materials by using a hub-and-spoke model. This works by creating regional recycling processing centers within larger communities that serve as hubs, and encouraging smaller communities, the spokes, to deliver their recyclable materials to the hubs.

The benefits of the hub-and-spoke model include reductions in transport and operating costs, building economies of scale by pooling recyclables together and strengthening relationships with end-markets.

“The spoke is ready to be offered to our business development pipeline, and the hub will soon be product-ready,” Chris Reed, managing director at Neometals, said.

The Mercedes LIB recycling plant in Kuppenheim will recover raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese. These will be fed back into the production of a targeted 50,000 battery modules for installation into new Mercedes vehicles.

The origins of the batteries at the Kuppenheim facility will be “test vehicles, start-up batteries and possibly returns from the field,” Mercedes said in a statement on March 3. These will comprise lithium-ion batteries from plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles.

The recovery rate at the Kuppenheim facility was expected to be more than 96% overall. This will include materials such as cobalt, nickel and lithium, and in future also graphite, through a mechanical-hydrometallurgical process.

The spoke installation was scheduled to start operations in the fourth quarter of this year, with commissioning to start in the first quarter in 2024.

“The Mercedes spoke [commission] marks a significant Primobius milestone,” Neometals said. “It represents the first commercial recycling plant supply agreement to a global electric vehicle OEM [original equipment manufacturer], and the first significant revenue.”

Want more insights and forecasts for the battery recycling and black mass market?

Keep up to date with global market insights and predictions for the battery recycling market with the Fastmarkets NewGen Battery Recycling Outlook.

The post Primobius to build first commercial battery shredding plant for Mercedes appeared first on Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets’ price assessment for germanium 99.99% Ge, in-whs Rotterdam, $ per kg, will be renamed “germanium 99.999% Ge, in-whs Rotterdam, $ per kg.”

The quality will be amended to “Ingot, Ge 99.999%, no other elements specified.” It was formerly “Ingot, Ga 99.999%, no other elements specified.”

The specified quality for Fastmarkets’ price assessment for germanium 99.999% Ge min, in-whs China, yuan per kg, will be amended to “Ge 99.999% min” from “Ge 99.99% min.”

This will standardize the specified metal purity of the two assessments in line with Minor Metals Trade Association (MMTA) guidance, at Ge 99.999%, and in line with our methodology, to remedy inconsistencies between the purities identified in the price name and the specified quality of the material.

Fastmarkets’ specifications for the two assessments will now read as follows:

MB-GER-0003 Germanium 99.999% Ge, in-whs Rotterdam, $ per kg
Quantity: Min 100kg (+/- 2%)
Quality: Ingot. Ge 99.999%, no other elements specified
Location: in-whs Rotterdam
Timing: Prompt release
Unit: USD per kg
Payment: Cash, other payment terms normalized
Publication: Twice-weekly. Wednesday and Friday, between 2pm and 3pm London time
Notes: Packed in plastic sleeves, original producer cases.

MB-GER-0004 Germanium 99.999% Ge min, in-whs China, yuan per kg
Quality: Ingots with no specific dimension or weight. Ge 99.999% min, 50ohm/cm; no other elements specified
Quantity: Min 50kg
Location: in-whs China
Unit: CNY per kg
Payment terms: Cash, other payment terms normalized
Publication: Weekly. Wednesday, by 3pm London time.

To provide feedback on these prices, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to these prices, please contact Solomon Cefai and Sayaka Kurata by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading: “FAO: Solomon Cefai and Sayaka Kurata re: germanium metal.”

To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to: https://www.fastmarkets.com/about-us/methodology.

The post Amendment to Fastmarkets’ germanium metal specifications appeared first on Fastmarkets.

The gigafactory will provide UK-produced batteries for its Jaguar Land Rover subsidiary in Birmingham, central England, and for other vehicle manufacturers in the UK and across Europe, Fastmarkets understands.

The company said that production is expected to start in 2026 and the gigafactory will maximize its use of renewable energy.

“Our multi-billion pound investment will bring state-of-the-art technology to the country, helping to power the automotive sector’s transition to electric mobility, anchored by our own business, Jaguar Land Rover,” he added.

For Europe’s car manufacturers, there is currently a clear preference for cobalt-based NCM batteries, although the use of lithium-based LFPs is growing, according to Fastmarkets researchers.

In China, meanwhile, LFP batteries are taking over from NCM batteries, with the country’s output of LFPs rising by 11.64% month-on-month in June, while its output of NCM batteries declined by 4.48% in the same month, according to data from China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance (CABIA).

But despite the growth in demand for LFP batteries in China and in Europe, Fastmarkets researchers forecast that the electric vehicle (EV) industry will account for 47% of the total demand for cobalt by 2030.

Even so, cobalt’s high and volatile prices, along with environmental and social governance (ESG) concerns, have led car manufactures to reduce the amount of cobalt used in NCM batteries, sources said. And demand for cobalt from consumers is currently fairly low, due to the quieter market during the summer holiday.

Nonetheless, the tighter cobalt hydroxide market and more interest from investors have pushed up cobalt prices in recent weeks.

Fastmarkets’ daily price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam was $16.30-18.50 per lb on Wednesday July 19, up from $14.85-17.00 per lb on July 6.

Fastmarkets’ twice-weekly price assessment for cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets’ standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) was calculated at 65-68% on Wednesday, continually up from 51-53% on May 24.

Fastmarkets researchers estimate that the supply/demand balance for lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) will show a deficit of 72,400 tonnes for 2023 as a whole, with the deficit increasing to 82,690 tonnes in 2024.

Fastmarkets’ daily price assessment for lithium carbonate 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery grade, spot prices, cif China, Japan & Korea was 38-40 per kg on Wednesday, flat from the previous session.

And Fastmarkets’ daily price assessment for lithium hydroxide monohydrate LiOH.H2O 56.5% LiOH min, battery grade, spot price cif China, Japan & Korea was $40-47 per kg on Wednesday, similarly flat from the previous session.

Keep up to date with the latest news and insights on our dedicated battery materials market page.

The post Tata Group’s UK gigafactory to produce cobalt and lithium-based batteries appeared first on Fastmarkets.

Bismuth 99.99% Bi min, in-whs Rotterdam BI-0001 – MB-BI-0001
Cadmium 99.95% min, cif global ports – MB-CD-0001
Cadmium 99.99% min, cif global ports – MB-CD-0002
Gallium 99.99% Ga min, in-whs Rotterdam – MB-GA-0001
Germanium 99.99% Ge, in-whs Rotterdam – MB-GER-0003
Germanium dioxide, in-whs China – MB-GER-0001
Indium 99.99%, in-whs Rotterdam – MB-IN-0002
Selenium 99.5% Se min, in-whs Rotterdam – MB-SE-0002

For tellurium 99.9-99.99% Te min, in-whs Rotterdam – MB-TE-0001, the methodology specifies its timing as “prompt.”

Fastmarkets proposes clarifying the prompt release window for these prices as 10 calendar days, to align with the accepted industry standard as defined by the Minor Metals Trade Association (MMTA).

This change would bring Fastmarkets in line with the MMTA’s Consolidated Regulations, Terms And Conditions Of Trade, where it defines “prompt” as “within 10 calendar days from the date of concluding the contract: time being decided by the local time at the location of the goods. The period is not extended if the 10th day falls on a weekend, or a public holiday in the location of either the goods or the seller.”

The consultation period for this proposed clarification starts on Monday June 26 and will end on Friday August 18. The amendment will then take effect, subject to market feedback, on Monday September 4.

To provide feedback on these prices or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to these prices, please contact Sayaka Kurata and Solomon Cefai by email at pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Sayaka Kurata & Solomon Cefai, re: minor metals.”

To see all of Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/about-us/methodology.

The post Proposal to clarify delivery timing for minor metals specifications appeared first on Fastmarkets.