I legit just explained to you why Tesla or a local OEM should stand up and pay more.
If North American Lithium aka SYQ collapses or goes into C&M it will pretty much spell the end of a spodumene supply in North America at present.
Not only does this go against what the Canadian government is trying to establish but it would likely go against government contracts the government have with big OEMs or chem producers in the area regarding development of a supply chain..... Go have a look at the invest quebec website:
https://www.investquebec.com/international/en/about-us.htmland in particular their subsidiaries:
https://www.investquebec.com/international/en/about-us/our-subsidiaries.htmlIll even tell you what it states next to the SOQUEM logo -
Explores for and develops mineral resources. Promotes partnerships with other companies in the industry to share the risks inherent in mineral exploration.So when a large company has been granted huge sums of money to invest in the area, it comes with caveats. Connecting the dots yet
?
As such being a partner in the area has both its positives (large sums of cash) and then the negatives - supporting local businesses that may not be in as great financial position as yourself.
Aside from this, the other benefits that say a Tesla has with local sourced supply:
Secures supply from a local source ie supports local
Ensures supply from an ethical source ESG tick
Supports local business, economy and workers
Is looked at from a more moral and ethical standpoint of not increasing Co2 emissions on freight and logistics
Reduces the local producers costs ie little to no shipment costs and lower insurances on say a simple rail transport vs trains, ships, trains etc...
Builds a partnership with said business in terms of possible future supply contracts
Refer to point 1 above - but secures supply in terms of if prices go parabolic the supplier then has the power (shows their respect) by in turn not smashing the OEM with high prices.
The list goes on but hopefully now the picture is a bit clearer.
(20min delay)