Good News & Bad News, page-23880

If Tesla does buy Sigma, 270kt contract Sigma have with LG Energy Solutions will be void. What do LG do, they sign a 4 year offtake and equity investment deal with PLL last week, though for only 50kt per year, noting PLL will also supply Tesla with similar tonnes.

Tesla and LG have offtake contracts with LTR, from memory, each 150kt per year. Until LTR come online, it appears its slim pickings for near term supply. Tesla and LG must be planning to blend their spod supply, though only dedicated spod conversation capacity outside China atm is in South Korea via POSCO, for which POSCO have secured 315kt from PLS, almost 50% of PLSs' spod capacity late this year.

Wrt CATL's announcement with China auto OEM's, those deals probably consists of chems produced from China domestic Lepidolite, which would not pass the pub test outside China. Desperate times, lithium contract prices converging with spot, thus no relief for CATL when supplying broader customer base, South Koreans gaining a foothold in NA in both CAM and battery production, rest of world is coming online slowly but surely, US IRA and now EU new green new deal all diversifying away from China, building their own supply chains, which are vying for the same raw materials as China Inc, TBH, smells like panic is setting in, CATL included.