Battery Metals

Swiss commodities trader and miner Glencore (LON: GLEN) has partnered up with Moroccan mining company Managem to produce cobalt from recycled battery materials at a plant near Marrakech.

The project is conditional on a feasibility study, to be completed by the end of the first quarter, which will assess the commercial viability of the existing plant and its carbon footprint.

If favourable, Glencore and Managem’s CTT hydrometallurgical refinery aims to enter into a five-year tolling agreement for roughly 1,200 tonnes of recycled cobalt per year, as well as nickel hydroxide and lithium carbonate.

“Demand for cobalt is expected to increase significantly in the next decade, largely driven by the green energy transition, most actors in the supply chain seek to ensure sustainably sourced materials,” Managem chairman and CEO Imad Toumi said in the statement.

The CTT hydrometallurgical refinery is 90% powered by wind energy.

“As the world seeks to address the challenge of climate change, primary/recycled cobalt and other future facing commodities are set to play a pivotal role in decarbonizing energy consumption and delivering the electric vehicle revolution,” Glencore’s head cobalt trader David Brocas added.

Rush to meet demand

Glencore will provide the CTT plant with black mass, a cobalt, lithium, and nickel-bearing feedstock produced from recycled battery electrodes, from its Sudbury, Canada and Nikkelverk, Norway operations.

Managem will contribute its metals recycling technology to the partnership and leave Glencore in charge of marketing the recycled products to customers.

The global push toward a greener future is firing up demand for battery metals such cobalt, lithium and nickel, at a time when the pandemic has exacerbated supply constraints. That saw cobalt prices surge last year to the highest level since 2018.

The Democratic Republic of Congo produces more than 65% of the world’s cobalt and Glencore, which operates two cobalt mines in the African country is the single biggest supplier of the battery metal, a by-product of copper and nickel mining.

Analysts at Roskill forecast cobalt demand will increase to 270,000 tonnes by 2030 from 141,000 in 2020, leaving deficits.

London-based commodities research firm CRU forecasts cobalt demand from electrical vehicles to account for more than 120,000 tonnes, or almost 45% of the total by 2025, in contrast with almost 39,000 tonnes, or 27%, in 2020.

Last year Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) became the first automaker valued at more than a trillion dollars, surpassing the combined value of its 10 nearest competitors. 

But despite billions of dollars in new spending (and promises to spend billions more) from traditional automakers to build out their EV capabilities, it’s not just market capitalization where Tesla remains way out in front.

Last year the Texas-based company was responsible for every fifth full-electric car leaving showrooms. That kind of dominance was last seen during Model-T days. 

Despite the emergence of popular sub-$5,000 cars like the Wuling Hongguang MINI, the Model 3, which sells for 10-times that in most configurations, is the bestselling EV worldwide. The 3 is also no. 1 in Europe, outselling its nearest rival the Renault Zoe 2:1. And that’s before the opening of Tesla’s first factory on the continent. 

Its dominance is even more noticeable in terms of raw battery power. Tesla accounts for more than a quarter of all the battery power found in passenger cars hitting the road last year. 

It’s also double the kWh of its nearest competitor, Volkswagen (XETRA: VOW) across all of the German company’s brands. In fact, last year Model 3s alone dispensed as much battery power as all the Volkswagens (including those built by FAW and SAIC under Chinese JVs), Porsches, Audis, Skodas and Seats combined. 

Against world number two car badge, BYD (OTCM:BYDDF), Tesla also remains streets ahead. The lead is made more remarkable by the fact that the US company delivered more LFP-battery powered cars last year than BYD, which is the world’s number two manufacturer of the cobalt and nickel free power units and is credited with much of the advance in the technology.

BYD, backed by Warren Buffet through a 21% stake, has gone all in on LFP, vowing to use the technology across its range. In 2021 it got over 80% of the way there, considering its overall sales mix.   

As for battery metals, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is right to be worried about nickel. Tesla deployed 27% of the world’s battery nickel, despite the fact that overall LFP accounts for more than a quarter of the kWh hours in all of its vehicles sold last year. Tesla still does not sell LFP-powered models in North America.  

Despite selling half the number of BEVs than Tesla, thanks to the absence of LFP in its line-up, Volkswagen deployed more cobalt and on a relative basis more metals across its brands. That’s in part due to high-performance vehicles like the Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron, some of which come equipped with higher nickel NCM batteries where cobalt can represent up to 20% of the metal mix. 

New developments at the Chinese Academy of Sciences are improving the way dual-ion batteries (DIBs) operate.

DIBs are based on a combination of chemistries different to those used in lithium-ion batteries and apply graphite as both electrodes and a combination of organic solvents and lithium salts as electrolytes.

In a paper published in Advanced Materials, the CAS researchers say they have provided a solution to what they call a “notorious issue” that causes the system to malfunction when the battery recharges and discharges.

According to Jiang Hongzhu, first author of the study, DIBs have attracted extensive attention due to their non-transition metal configuration, economy and environmental friendliness. However, practical implementation of the technology is nearly stagnant, mainly due to rapid battery failure during high-voltage cycling.

In DIBs, positively and negatively charged ions simultaneously move from the electrolyte to the opposite electrode. The “notorious issue” is that the solvent used in the electrolyte can insert into the graphite layers of the electrodes due to anion-solvent interactions.

“Eventually, this solvent co-intercalation results in graphite exfoliation and pulverization at high potential, especially in the widely used linear carbonate electrolytes,” Jiang said. She also noted that high-voltage cycling can lead to the oxidation of thermodynamically unstable electrolytes.

The scientist pointed out that previous strategies focusing on enhancing the stability of electrolytes have not effectively addressed the critical issue of solvent co-intercalation. Thus, to prevent this problem and electrolyte corrosion, she and her team needed to decouple the negatively charged anions from the solvent.

A viable approach to do so was to regulate the anion solvation structure by introducing another component that possesses stronger interaction with anions than carbonate solvents into the electrolyte.

The group decided to focus on hexafluorophosphate, an anionic component in lithium-ion batteries. They employed an important monomer containing quaternary ammonium motifs—which are positively charged—to develop a polymer electrolyte membrane that can selectively filter anions. This resulted in superb cycling stability with a 99% coulombic efficiency at high voltage.

“This strategy significantly inhibits solvent co-intercalation, as well as enhances the oxidation resistance of the electrolyte, ensuring the structural integrity of the graphite,” Cui Guanglei, co-author of the paper, said.

“We believe facilitating the anion desolvation is crucial to ameliorate long cycling performance in DIBs.”

Electric vehicle (EV) battery startup Britishvolt said on Monday it has signed an agreement with a UK government-backed research facility to develop batteries with high nickel content and more energy-dense materials as it gears up for mass production.

Demand for nickel is expected to jump over the next decade as EVs go mainstream. Nickel bolsters energy storage in a battery’s cathode, which in turn extends an EV’s range.

The auto industry is scrambling to boost EV range with large investments in research into more energy-dense batteries.

Britishvolt said it has reached a two-year, multi-million pound agreement with the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) to develop, assemble its next generation of sample battery cells for mass production and commercialisation.

The UKBIC is a government-funded facility formed to help the British car industry bring new battery technologies to market.

Britishvolt said on Friday it had secured UK government backing for its planned battery plant in northern England, unlocking 1.7 billion pounds ($2.31 billion) in private funding.

The startup’s 30 gigawatt-hour (GWh) plant in Blyth should start production in 2023. It will be built in three phases and when it reaches peak production in 2027 should be capable of producing battery packs for over 300,000 vehicles annually.

The iron ore price surged more than 2% on Friday, posting a third straight weekly gain amid hopes for strong demand, fuelled by China’s fresh stimulus measures.

According to Fastmarkets MB, benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China were changing hands for $137.36 a tonne during morning trading, up 2.3% compared to Thursday’s closing.

Benchmark iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for May delivery, jumped as much as 3% to 762 yuan ($120.12) per tonne, the highest since October 13. They ended up 2.2% to 756 yuan a tonne, sending the weekly gain to 4.6%.

“The recent recovery is premised on a market view that may well end up shaping commodity prices for 2022, namely that China is once again going to open up the stimulus taps to boost a flagging economic recovery,” wrote Reuters columnist Clyde Russell.

“If this is the case, then iron ore and metals stand to be the major beneficiaries, as well as coking coal used to make steel.”

Capacity utilisation rates of blast furnaces at 247 steel mills across the country continue to recover and stood at 81.08% this week, up from 79.89% a week earlier, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.

“There is strong anticipation that steel production will resume in the medium term,” SinoSteel Futures analysts said, but warned that short-term demand for steelmaking ingredients is pressured due to the Winter Olympics and pandemic-related restrictions.

Huatai Futures noted that China’s recent monetary policy came in line with central government’s requirements, and more policies are expected to shore up the world’s second-largest economy.

Tianqi Lithium Corp., a Chinese supplier of the key material used in batteries, has selected banks for a share offering in Hong Kong that could take place as soon as mid-2022, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company, whose shares already trade in Shenzhen, is working with China International Capital Corp., Morgan Stanley and CMB International on the proposed sale that could raise between $1 billion and $2 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

Deliberations are ongoing and details such as the fundraising amount and timing could still change, the people said. A representative for CICC declined to comment, while Morgan Stanley, CMBI and Tianqi Lithium didn’t immediately respond to requests seeking comment.

Tianqi Lithium applied for a Hong Kong listing in 2018, but the plan was shelved amid falling lithium prices and a cash squeeze following its purchase of a 24% stake in a Chilean rival for about $4 billion. The company’s performance has improved since, as the global push for electrified transport has stoked demand for lithium, which is used in rechargeable batteries.

The Chengdu, Sichuan-based company has revived the stalled share sale plan after global prices for the raw material almost quadrupled in the past year. In September, the company said its board approved a proposal to issue H shares and list on the main board of Hong Kong’s stock exchange.

The resurgence in the consumption of the metal helped Tianqi Lithium return to profit for two quarters in a row last year. Share prices of Tianqi Lithium have more than doubled since end-March as it recovers from debt repayment pressures that forced the miner to sell stakes in the world’s biggest lithium mine in Australia and in a refinery to IGO Ltd. for $1.4 billion.