*To Remind,
Battery minerals prices still risingBENCHMARK Mineral Intelligence continues to hold a bullish outlook for cobalt and lithium demand, despite mixed price moves in June.
"Whilst Benchmark has a bullish outlook for cobalt demand in the second half of 2021, it is uncertain whether the current rally will be sustained over the summer months, a traditionally quiet time for the cobalt industry," it said.
Its lithium price index rose 2.9% month-on-month with supply tightness continuing to push ex-China pricing upwards towards Chinese domestic levels.
Lithium carbonate prices halted their rally in China but rose 11.1% in Europe, with Benchmark's global weighted average lithium carbonate prices rising 2.5% month-on-month.
Its global weighted hydroxide prices rose 7.1% in June and spodumene, FOB Australia, rose 4.3% since May.
"The higher price environment and unmet demand drove producers to focus on expansion," Benchmark said.It referred to China's Ganfeng announcing a US$630 million equity raise to fund a slew of new developments and investments, including taking a 50% stake in ASX-listed Firefinch's Goulamina lithium project in Mali.
It also cited POSCO and Tibet Lithium Energy working on their respective hydroxide and carbonate projects and Pilbara Minerals approving the restart of its recently acquired, neighbouring Ngungaju plant in Western Australia.
Pilbara's restart decision was set to securely position the company as the world's second largest spodumene producer, Benchmark said.
It said while the restart could stabilise or reduce spodumene market pricing when supply reached the market, this was expected to be relatively short-lived, with the forecast market deficit in feedstock supply anticipated to continue placing upward pressure on prices in the medium-to-long term given surging demand growth.
Benchmark MD Simon Moores separately pointed to Nissan and Envision's plans announced last week to build a £1 billion electric vehicle hub in Sunderland, UK, with a 25GWh battery megafactory at the heart of the plan.
"This is a major step forward for the UK, marking the beginning of the country's lithium ion economy," Moores said.www.miningnews.net/research/news/1413256/battery-minerals-prices-still-risingWorld’s Largest Lithium Producer: Get Ready For A Mega-RallySeveral months ago, Chile’s second-largest lithium producer, Albemarle
warned that global supplies of lithium were on course for a major shortfall in a few years’ time if prices fail to reflect the costs of funding massive expansions amid the EV boom.
Specifically, ALB highlighted the chasm between discount-hunting EV manufacturers and lithium producers who were unable to meet growing demand at persistently low prices.
But maybe Eric Norris, operations manager for Albemarle’s lithium business, rushed his fences: Lithium carbonate prices have nearly tripled after sinking to multi-year lows of $29,800 per ton in July 2020.
Lithium carbonate is a critical ingredient in the manufacture of Lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.And now another giant lithium producer is dancing to the same tune.Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium, the world’s largest lithium mining company with a market capitalization of $19 billion, says that lithium prices will continue to rally as lithium production struggles to keep up with the massive demand for EVs.
The Chinese company has some decent credibility--after all, it counts leading EV makers such as
Tesla Inc. and
BMW among its customers.
Ganfeng Lithium reported net income of 1.025-billion yuan ($156-million) in 2020, a huge improvement on 2019 partly due to gains on the fair value of financial assets such as equities but also due to strong demand for battery-grade lithium.
Mega rallyInvestors started pouring into lithium years ago, anticipating the very same supply crunch that Ganfeng Lithium and Albemarle are warning is now looming.
They jumped the gun then, partly out of poorly timed over-enthusiasm, and partly because the logic ran like this: Any new lithium mines that could contribute to the EV battery onslaught would take years to bring online, from scratch--so best to get started in advance.
Now, with the EV boom squarely in the front view mirror, and with battery gigafactories promising to be heavy-hitting purchasers, we can finally see the much-anticipated supply crunch forming.
Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices started to buck a three-year downturn during the second half of 2020 thanks to robust EV demand roared back from the coronavirus.
Lithium carbonate prices have gained 67% so far in 2021 and 224%r the past 12 months.
That’s mainly thanks to the postponement of lithium project expansions in South America--due to previous demand forecasts as well as the impact of the pandemic.
This is expected to slow down the short-term supply of the lithium compound and improve pricing, according to Ganfeng.
Ganfeng current boasts an annual capacity of just over 120 000 tonnes.
Looking further ahead, the company hopes to establish a lithium salt capacity of at least 600,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) annually, good for a 400% increase.
That alone should give you an idea of how bullish these companies are on lithium, thanks to the global EV and electrification drive.Commodity rallyBut lithium producers such as Ganfeng, Albermale and SQM can also thank another potent force working in their favor--a global commodity bull market.
A cross-section of Wall Street luminaries from Pimco to Point 72 have predicted a broad commodity rally thanks to the so-called reflation trade.
Indeed, Wall Street is predicting a new
commodity bull market that will rival the oil price spikes of the 1970s or the China-driven boom of the 2000s.
Market experts, including Goldman Sachs, believe the commodity boom could rival the last “supercycle” in the early 2000s that powered emerging
BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India, and China).
Iron ore and copper prices are already trading at multi-year highs, while global oil prices have rebounded strongly from historical lows.
Lithium, oil, and copper are expected to be among the biggest beneficiaries of the new commodity bull market.https://au.finance.yahoo.com/ *To remind,
Three Commodities Set To Boom As The Global Economy Recovers LithiumLithium bulls are enjoying their best moment in decades, lithium prices already up 88% YTD thanks to robust demand for cobalt and nickel free EV batteries.
Bullish tech markets are rarely without curious dislocations. And right now one of the biggest imbalances can be seen in the huge momentum behind EV stocks such as
Tesla Inc. and the lithium market, which has remained in bear territory for years now.
Over the past couple of years, a cross-section of analysts including Goldman Sachs have tried calling a bottom on lithium prices, reckoning on a significant contraction in supply as persistently low prices limited production of one of the key commodities in the EV powertrain.
That has not happened--until now.Lithium’s moment to shine appears to have finally arrived, thanks to the massive electrification drive and robust demand for electric vehicles.
Specifically, lithium prices have been on a tear thanks to explosive demand for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI).BMI says battery grade lithium carbonate midpoint price (EXW China, ≥99.0% Li2CO3) for mid-March was a good 88% higher since the start of the year to over $12,600 a tonne, the highest level since March 2019.
Lithium hydroxide prices are up 20% over the timeframe, although a relatively deep discount to carbonate continues to exist.
Cobalt and nickel free vehicles are proving to be a runaway success.According to BMI analyst George Miller, “...
demand for durable, improved, and low-cost LFP cathode material has become rejuvenated in China – a very similar story to what we saw in lithium’s last price run of 2016 but with a much improved product for the 2020s.”
A year ago, Tesla Inc. surprised the electric car industry when it announced some Model 3s made in its Shanghai factory will be equipped with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.In December, only its second full month of sales, Tesla Model 3 55KWh LFP-battery captured 5.9% of the global full electric car market in terms of battery capacity deployed despite not being for sale in the US.
Strong demand in Europe saw LFP-powered Model 3s command 46% of all Model 3 sales in January.https://oilprice.com/View attachment 3348890More Food for thought on the way to Manono Tom 
After that little CR Bump in the Road CheersFrank
