Shortage of raw materials for lithium batteries may reduce power cell production

According to foreign media reports, Moody's Investors Service wrote in a note to customers that there was a shortage of metals such as cobalt, copper, lithium, and nickel, or that it would slow down the production of batteries in electric vehicles.

With the increase in production of car companies such as Tesla, the demand for car battery metal has also increased. In addition, with the electric transformation of the automotive industry, many companies are committed to building a network of electric vehicle charging stations, aiming to increase the penetration rate of electric vehicles, which in turn has once again increased the demand for these battery metals. Production of electric vehicles may slow, however, because of limited supply of metals such as copper and nickel.

At present, the supply gap for refined copper and nickel metals will widen, and demand for cobalt is likely to show up next year. If the output of electric vehicles is lower than expected, lithium metal may be oversupplied after 2019.

Mining is needed to invest in New mines to meet rising demand, but less is being spent because the industry is still paying for mergers and acquisitions caused by a miscalculation four years ago and mining companies are trying to make ends meet.

In most cases, cobalt metal is a companion to copper or nickel, and the increase in production depends to a large extent on the mining of new copper and nickel mines.

Rising metal prices will benefit miners, but will cause market price volatility. Batteries are the most expensive part of electric vehicles, and the rising price of battery metal is forcing the car industry to explore new alternative battery materials.

The page contains the contents of the machine translation.