#Natron, the first #sodium-ion battery manufacturing facility in...

#Natron, the first #sodium-ion battery manufacturing facility in the US announces the commencement of its commercial operations. https://businesswire.com/news/home/20240428240613/en/Natron-Energy-Achieves-First-Ever-Commercial-Scale-Production-of-Sodium-Ion-Batteries-in-the-U.S./… With only 600MWh of capacity, it will be intended for energy storage applications. Is this the end of #lithium? No.

https://x.com/jczuleta/status/1785842289199165501

...why do lithium hodlers so sensitive about the end of lithium narrative.

...they forget that when exuberance began 2-4 years ago, lithium was the only choice, no talk of any other.

...this underscores not that lithium would lose relevance, but that battery chemical technology is evolving and we can only expect better and cheaper batteries for usage in the years ahead.

...can cheaper batteries accommodate much higher lithium pricing? The Chinese have already invested billions in a sodium-ion battery plant in China and while its use is currently limited in smaller EVs at present, you'd be surprise where Chinese R&D can take it to in the near future, otherwise they would not have invested billions would they?

...for lithium companies producing a more or less fixed production capacity and offtakes, market pricing determines revenues growth. So in the absence of growth in lithium price, growth would be largely absent and stack that against a capital intensive business with high cost of capital, you can imagine the market would seek better growth opportunities elsewhere.

...the market is holding out for an expected price recovery because it believes in the EV growth transformation. And that is why lithium stocks remain elevated.