Albemarle ’Sold Out’ of Lithium as Electric Vehicles Accele rate, page-2

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18/05/17

18:55

Post #: 24778554
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Originally posted by bubba69 ↑

By Jack Kaskey
(Bloomberg) -- Albemarle Corp. said it can sell all the lithium it can produce through 2021 as sales of electric cars such as Tesla Inc.’s Model S boost demand for the mineral used in vehicle batteries.
“If you look at our contracts, we’re basically sold out through the next five years already,” Scott Tozier, chief financial officer at the Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based chemical maker, said Wednesday on a conference webcast. “It’s really being driven primarily by electric vehicles.”
The world’s biggest producer of lithium is locking customers into long-term contracts with demand expected to rise by 35,000 metric tons a year through 2021. Investments by battery producers and auto-makers provide confidence that electric cars will account for 5 percent of light vehicle sales by that year from the current 1 percent, Tozier said.
Albemarle plans to spend as much as $1 billion to boost annual production capacity to 160,000 tons, from a bit more than
60,000 tons last year. Additional capital will be spent on developing more capacity to open after 2022, with options that include Antofalla, Argentina, and re-opening the Kings Mountain mine in North Carolina. Acquisitions also are possible, Tozier said.
Almost 60 percent of current lithium demand is for industrial uses, such as glass, synthetic rubber and alloys for airplane parts, with markets growing about 3 percent a year, the CFO said. Batteries are driving lithium’s rapid growth, including those used in tablets and toothbrushes. Power packs for electric vehicles are the biggest contributor to demand, with the Tesla Model S using 75 kilograms of lithium, compared with 3 grams in a cell phone, he said.
Utility-sized batteries for electric grids and other uses are a small market that eventually may grow faster than electric vehicles, he said.

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Sooner or later other automotive players will catch up with Tesla. What will happen when there are 3 automotive companies with the demand of Tesla ?! Yes lithium is less finite than oil and gold, but there is going to be a massive lag in production IMO.

Personal opinion, DYOR etc

KDR Price at posting: 41.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
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Albemarle ’Sold Out’ of Lithium as Electric Vehicles Accele rate, page-2

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Dale Gillham's weekly wrap: US fracking support boosts outlook for Australian gas stocks

Medallion Metals kicking off 15,000m drill run at Ravensthorpe gold play

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